Being alive
by RipperBlackstaff
Summary: Belle is stuck in a little corner of her planet, with her father, powerthirsty clerics, and a war against monsters rage. Their lands and life are at the mercy of the priests. When a lonely traveler arrives on the Marchlands and strikes a deal with her father for her, Belle's world spins on its axis.
1. Prologue : First contact

**Summary: ** This is a AU Rumbelle. I've fusioned Once Upon A Time and Stargate Universe, sprinkled with a little dash of Doctor Who. Belle is stuck in a little corner of her planet, with her father, powerthirsty clerics, and a war against monsters rage. One day, a lonely traveler arrive and strikes a deal with her father for her.

**Pairing: **Rumplestiltskin/Belle (It should be Rumshplestiltskin, considering I've merged Rumple and Nicholas Rush)

**Word Count: **1,423

**Rating: **T (the fic itself will be M or even E but this part is T)

* * *

Once, the Marchlands had been luxurious and rich. A long time ago, Belle knew her people had lived in a land of abundence, merchants bringing fruits, liquor and so on. That was when the mines were full of elkium, a mineral used in the combustion of fuel for spaceships. Then the mines had been drained and people had started to leave the place.

Less people meant less business. Less business meant less merchant. Less merchants meant less hability to live there, and thus, even less people.  
The ones who couldn't or didn't want to leave had started to become survivalist, and organised themselves into small groups, and regressed to tribes.  
They still had communication devices and links to the bigger cities, and though space travelling became usual with time, the marchlands were so isolated they pretty much missed it all.

The tribes lived, thrived, survived, focused on local legends, on their own microcosm. New religions based on old stories were born, priesthood was created and in the marchlands, the Gods and their rituals became important. So when monsters, with thick fangs and yellow eyes, erupted from the Hills, people turned to Religion to ease their fears.

Those beasts destroyed tribes, leaving blood and dust in their wake. People were afraid. Tribes trembled for their own, but tried to fight back. However they were outnumbered, their weapons, though efficient, couldn't be enough against the brutal violence of the monsters.  
In the end, the clerics and priests reunited and decided a sacrifice was necessary. Those monsters must have been Gods expressing their displeasure at the humans, and to appease them, blood must be spilled, in the old ritual of Arkibalt, when the three moons could be seen at the same time in the sky. But they had to find the one to sacrifice. Though there was time before the ritual, the search had to be undergone.

Mauo had 94 people under his responsibility, the biggest tribe still alive of the Marchlands, and one with comradio in working order. His daughter, Belle, was the gem of his life and it was a shock and a disaster when she was chosen.  
She was a maiden, unmarried, and clerics didn't like her very much. Belle never hesitated to defy them, and she had been to the headcities twice before. She had discovered books and had always brought back those tablets where stories were told, and she was often seen spending hours staring at them, reading. She was an oddity, who refused to submit. It was also a brilliant political move. Mauo having only a child, Belle's mother having died at childbirth, his territory would be left heirless and the Priests could claim it.

However Mauo wouldn't abide by their wishes. The sacrifice was monstruous, they expected his daughter to just walk to the monsters and get eaten, then people would hope the maiden blood would weaken their bloodthirst. Mauo thought it was stupid. The monsters had eaten thousands of people, one little girl, his little girl, couldn't possibly stop that and which father in their right mind could let that happen ?

He decided to retaliate. With the help of a few trustworthy warriors, he educated his daughter to the survival and fighting techniques. Belle didn't like it but she understood the need.  
She learnt how to take out a man down bare-handed, she learnt how to throw knives and use them in a close fight. One of the shooter gave her his electric gun for her to use to knock out, or even kill someone from a distance. A gatherer taught her how to distinguish poisons from edible herbs, to plant vegetables and fruits, and a hunter taught her to hunt and fish. They had time before the sacrifice and they wanted to make the most of it. Mauo wanted to make sure Belle knew everything there was to know to be able to survive alone in the wild while trekking to the headcity.

Her father's plan was to have her walking toward the Hills, then once the village was out of sight, to make a 180° turn, and walk far away from the village, to leave the Marchlands and go live her life elsewhere. The trip would be tough but it was the only solution for his girl to survive.

The closer the day of the sacrifice, the more pressure Mauo put on Belle. She had soldiered on, put on her brave face, and absorbed the knowledge of the Tribe warriors.

The morning of the day before the sacrifice, she woke up, ready to face her biggest trial. She was ready to go and build a life elsewhere, in the headcity. Books had opened her mind, and she wanted to experiment it all. She wanted to go and sit in a real library, she wanted to travel amongst the stars. She had read about a nebulae where colors were bleeding into each other and making the most exquisite show, she wanted to see it. She had read about a planet covered in snow, water made solid, she wanted to touch that thing. Her heart was yearning for so much. Maybe that sacrifice wasn't so bad, in the end. It certainly put her on the right tracks, well, thanks to her dad. A less "evoluted" tribe would have her eaten, but her father was probably one of the most practical man she had ever met, a trait she had inherited. And thanks to him, her dreams were now in her reach.

And in the afternoon of the day, they were ruined. People shouted in the streets and a man erupted into her home to talk to her father. Of course, Belle followed them outside.

A spaceship landed next to her village. It was bigger than an independant freight ship but smaller than the smallest of war ship she had seen on her reading tablet in any case, twice the size of her village. The design was something like she had never seen before. The ship had a long nose, clearly made for deep space travel, and had a concave triangle shape, its stern slightly rounded. An egg like struture on the third of the ship closest to the stern sat, some windows letting some light in. It rested steadily on three legs with hooky feet. The spaceship reflected gold, though its body was clearly made of greyish metal. Overall, Belle thought the spaceship elegant but weird.

People from the Marchlands knew of spaceships and startravelling, however, their land was so far away from the headcity that noone had ever landed there before. It was… unexpected. Noone would willingly land there, the ship must have been damaged, or undergoing a breakdown… the poor pilot would have to go the bigger cities to find a mechanics. Though if the break was manageable, maybe they could find a way to repair in her book tablet but he'd have to have supplies. Oooh Belle was still excited.

The hatch opened and a man descended from the bunker. He was not very tall, too thin to be healthy, had brown shaggy hair to his shoulders, a short beard, and wore weird clothes, as if he put them on in the wrong order. From the moment he got down, he stick out like a sore thumb. The men from her people traditionally wore their hair shaved or very short. He had blue rough-looking trousers with leather attached to his right thigh, holding a short stick in a T shape, and some kind of short green tunic with two coloured-sleeves, green and white. Over it, he had a short sleeveless vest that she didn't think had an use.

The man was obviously not from this world, he must have had a bad trip, come from very far, have other traditions, even speak another language ! Belle was happy to meet him, obviously communications would be a problem at first but they would overcome it. Maybe she'd even learn a few words from him.

The man walked to them, looking around him, taking in their surroundings. People were looking at Mauo for clues of how to react, the man must have seen it and deduced Mauo was the chief. Belle was standing next to her father, and she felt the stranger's eyes lay on her face before facing her father. She was expecting weird words from another world but she was flabbergasted at the words that came out of his mouth, in perfect marchlandsian.  
"Greetings, I am Doctor Nicholas Von Stiltskin".

That day, her life changed forever.


	2. Episode 1 : The Marchlands

**Summary: ** This is a AU Rumbelle. I've fusioned Once Upon A Time and Stargate Universe, sprinkled with a little dash of Doctor Who. Belle is stuck in a little corner of her planet, with her father, powerthirsty clerics, and a war against monsters rage. One day, a lonely traveler arrive and strikes a deal with her father for her.

**Pairing: **Rumplestiltskin/Belle (It should be Rumshplestiltskin, considering I've merged Rumple and Nicholas Rush)

**Word Count: **14,587 / episode 1 is Complete.

**Rating: **M

I've decided to treat it, not like a story, but more like a Tshow, with separate adventures following each other. Of course there's a big scheme :) Hence, why the chapters are more episodes than actual chapters.

* * *

Prologue : post/58721030853/being-alive-prologue

The planet was like numerous others at the outer edge of what was considered the civilised ring of planet. It had a big country sized city, the headcity and continent sized suburbs and deserted areas. Von Stiltskin liked the latter better, because it was often out of range of detectors and people living there generally didn't want to be found.

What usually happened in those cases was Nick offering his technical services in exchange of what he needed. He stayed one or two days on the planet and took off. It was as safe as could be, a lone traveller in an isolated town, people so cut from civilizations were always in need of repairs.

The man in front of him was looking at him like he had two heads. Okay, maybe he really landed far from civilisation, this time. The village was obviously very poor, quite… uncivilised, actually. He could see a well, old houses made of stones and mud, some trees… The ground under his feet was dry, too dry for agriculture unless they could irrigate… Maybe he could make his deal in that area, propose to make that soil arable with irrigation plans…

He watched the people, they were dressed properly, poorly but properly. He could also provide tissue… His ship was storing goods for him to trade… Nicholas had some potential offers to make, it was all good. He looked at the girl next to the man, making sure to only glance fleetingly at her. He didn't know the customs of that people and one time he had almost lost his eyes for looking too long at a woman. She was a petite woman in her twenties, smaller than him, with a round face and strikingly blue eyes. She wasn't dressed like a princess, no jewels but a bracelet, but her hair was wavy brown with reflections of red. He decided not to offer anything petty and vain for her, that people looked more in need of food than pretty items.

"Greetings, I am Doctor Nicholas Von Stiltskin"

The woman opened wide eyes at him and looked surprised. He glanced at her then back to the man. From the age difference and looks, he thought she was his daughter but he wouldn't attempt saying it out loud once he nearly had his tongue ripped out because he mistook someone's sister for that someone's fiancée. Despite what people thought, he learnt from his mistakes.  
The man answered.  
"Greetings, traveller. I am Mauo, the chief of this people."

Von Stiltskin nodded respectfully.  
"How can we help you, Doctor Nicholas Von Stiltskin"  
"Please, call me Nicholas. The whole name is a mouthful."

Mauo looked relieved.  
"That's quite a mouthful indeed." He looked like he wanted to add something but refrained, and after a silence, he added "How can we help you ?"

Nicholas grinned, and his tongue appeared to lick his top as he looked downward to consider his answer. "Maybe I can help you ?"  
"Explain yourself, Nicholas"  
"Well, I am a dealer. I offer things and services in exchange of other things and services. I trade"  
Mauo thought for a moment, then replied "You are a merchant."  
Nicholas nodded. "Yes I am, of sorts. I am also a thinker… I can help you with plans, and else. I saw you had water underground, I could help you with agriculture and irrigation"

Mauo frowned, this man was not a merchant like they were talked about in stories of their lands. He became instantly distrustful.  
"What do you want in exchange of this generosity ?"  
He instinctively put her arm protectively around his daughter.

"Water" Nicholas answered. "I would like water. My tanks are almost empty"  
Mauo cocked an eyebrow, obviously perplexed. To him, no agriculture plans were worth so little as water.  
Belle interrupted. "Why not going to the Headcity then ? As a merchant, you must have money, you can afford water from an official source… Why here ?"

Von Stiltskin was surprised. Really he was. He thought he was in a patriarchist culture who didn't let women speak, but obviously he was wrong. Women could talk in this hole away of civilisation. It was actually a good surprise. He had seen societies based on equality, amazon-like cultures -which he avoided like plaque- but most of them were based on male dominance. That girl was bright, smart and logical. Of course, she was right, anyone with a drop of sense would go to headcities to replenish a ship. Only people flying under the radar would request one so far from actual civilisation. He thought he'd do good avoiding that girl, she was way too smart for her own good. He looked at her, and the ghost of a smile appeared on his lips, briefly.  
"As you probably guessed, Dearie, I'm not… interested in going to Headcities. I'm more of a small town man."

Belle narrowed her eyes. Mauo decided to avoid her daughter and the stranger fighting and cut in, before Belle could answer Nicholas.  
"Well, if you want water and give us plans in exchange, it can be arranged."

Nicholas nodded and smiled nervously and briefly. He looked around. "I'll need to scan the surroundings from up high to determine the best plan for the irrigation. I'll just fly over and then I'll take the night to make the plan. We'll conclude our deal tomorrow and I'll be on my way."

Mauo nodded. "Let's eat together, Nicholas… Noone should stay alone for a meal. My daughter will show you around, surely, you need to see the well…"  
"I can see it from up in the Sky, Mauo… It's fine, really."

He didn't want to spend more time than necessary with the too smart girl. His guts told him she was troubles, and he was not the kind of men to invite troubles.  
Belle, however, came forward and hooked her arm with his.  
"Nicholas… You must have tales to share, about your travels, please, tell me about them."

Mauo smirked, his daughter was definitely her mother's daughter. Belle was a ball of fire, never backing out from a mystery and obviously, she was considering this man being one. He pitied the guy. He was going to get quizzed about everything in the galaxy. He hid his smile and looked at Belle leading Nicholas away. That man could be useful. He wondered if his village really needed agriculture when the man had a spaceship and himself had a daughter to lead away from here. He definitely needed to talk to Nicholas alone. Well, only if Belle agreed to let him go. Seeing them walk away together - actually, seeing Belle jerking poor Nicholas forward, the man looked like he was going to get a tooth ripped out - Mauo thought he was going to have a hard time to get the traveler alone.

Von Stiltskin thought he was going to tear off his ears, or her tongue. That girl was asking so much questions, he couldn't even think of the beginning of an answer.  
"I've heard of the Elkium nebulae, is it true its colour is like the metal we used to extract from here ? Is it true Avonlea is the biggest planet ? What is a magitrion particle ? Are Erythotrions that evil ? Are the stories about the Empress true ? And abo-"  
Nicholas laid a silencing finger on her mouth "Shhhhhhhhhhh"

Belle opened wide blue eyes full of fiery outrage. Nicholas bit back a smirk and started to talk slowly, staring into her eyes, looking for signs of appeasement. "The Elkium nebulae is glowing orange, like… like the sun of Urcus. Avonlea is not the biggest planet, that's Queenheart. A magitrion particle is a particle left by a ship during a hyperspace travel. It has a distinguished signature depending on the time it was built, and who did it. Erythotrions are sons of bitches but they have some kind of honor. And some stories about the Empress are true and others are false."

Nicholas smiled briefly at her and dropped his hand by his side, and added after a moment of silence. "Wow, you're capable of shutting up"  
She punched his arm and he reflexively massaged the place she had punched before catching himself and stopping.  
"This will teach you to insult a woman on her Land" She snapped.  
"I beg your pardon ? You wouldn't even leave me time to answer your questions !"  
"Sorry for being happy to meet you !"  
"Happy to meet me ? You're just leeching on my brain !"

She punched his shoulder again.  
"Stop it, girl !"

They stared at each other, glaring and frowning, until Belle's eyes shifted behind him and she relented.  
"I'm sorry, Nicholas. I overstepped my boudaries."

Now, THAT surprised him. He turned around and saw three men with green hoods looking toward them. Their hoods were hiding their features, plunging their face into darkness but they were clearly looking at them. Nick could feel their gaze upon them both. Belle was glancing between him and them, looking nervous.  
"Are you alright ?" He asked, trying not to sound concerned. It was like the girl had been swapped, and she wasn't the same than 5 minutes ago.  
"Yes… They just came out of the praying home."  
"You don't… seem… like you like them."  
"Not really." Belle replied, trying to keep her face neutral but her eyes were sparkling.

Nicholas looked around and offered his arm, which Belle took.  
"You were about to show me the well."

Belle relaxed and nodded. "Yes, this way, please."  
Nicholas heard the thanks she didn't say outloud in the tone of her voice.  
"Who are they ?" He asked in a low voice.  
"Clerics. I… I don't wish to talk about them."

Nicholas nodded. "You're alright ?"  
"I.." And then she nodded quickly. "Yes. I have… something planned tomorrow. Big day for me."

They walked to the well. "Here it is…" Belle said. "It's a very classic well, a hole in a ground and there's water deep down, and we plunge a bucket with a rope and when we pull it out, it's full of water."  
"Yeah I know what a well is."

They grinned at each other.

—

The sunset found Belle home and Von Stiltskin in his ship.

He was calculating the distance from the planet where he was to Avonlea, his next stop. He needed to check with his contact on that planet if the Rebels had given him any news.  
His relationship with the rebels was muddy at worst, messy at best. They used him to carry messages and items from one hideout to another. He had drawn the line at carrying people because 1) nobody but him could go onboard of his baby - his ship and 2) he was not part of this revolution and didn't wish to be. However, a man needed to eat, drink and buy fuel. So he dealed his services, he procured hard-to-find objects in exchange of information, water, food or credits, this galaxy's money. And with that shady business came the need for discreetion.

He didn't want to endanger what he considers like his purpose in life, what he was born for. When he was smuggling, he hid himself behind a faceless head and used cameo to disguise his ship. When he stole it, he had discovered while messing with the buttons and controls that he could change the appearance of his baby. So when he was conducting honest business, he used her genuine appearance, and when he was dealing, he concealed her.  
He liked her original looks way better, but needs must.

He stroked the console lovingly, his fingers stroking the metal tenderly before turning on the communication station. It was a screen where every communication ever written, or spoken was coded. To read them, you had to have a code and this code was the receiver's key. Noone but the receiver had the key to open it, and noone but one with that same key could write the message and send it.  
He looked for messages for himself and he checked messages for his bad counterpart. He had one. Next to no one could contact him. Actually, new people finding him were extremely rare and those messages were dissected. His counterpart was a wanted man. The Empire was looking for him for crimes of betrayal, smuggling, rebellion, escaping, get-away and theft. The Empress C Illmergs had given her daughter Ina Illmergs the mission and means to bring him in front of her court, to be judged in a mock trial and executed, unless Ina just shot him on sight.

Von Stiltskin opened the message and read : "Rush, Avonlea's rules have become harder. the militia has noticed Rebellious forces and is hunting them. Come back as you or do not come back. I will signal when it is safe again. If you need shelter, go to Nostos. Be careful. JH"

Fuck. He didn't like that at all. Avonlea was probably what he was considering almost his headquarters and he had wanted to go there after replenishing his water tanks. He needed to talk to Jeff, Nostos wouldn't do. it wouldn't do at all.

A discreete knock echoed on the hatch. Who dared ? Who dared touch his baby ? He turned off the communication station and walked to the main controls console, turning on the outter cameras. He saw Mauo with a fuming bowl with a spoon inside in one hand and a opaque glass in the other.  
Nick activated the audiocom of the camera. "Step aside, opening the hatch".  
He couldn't deny it was great to eat fresh food. He usually ate rehydrated dehydrated powder. It was a tasteless white paste that contained every nutriment a human could need for a day. He washed it down with a lot of water and treated himself with a cup of farherb infusion. It had the taste of a very diluted coffee and was purple-coloured. It was a very weak drink, not at all like he used to take his own coffee, but when in space, one couldn't afford to be picky.

In any case, he was happy to have fresh food. He just hoped it was something edible, that actually had a nice taste. After all, it is not because they looked humans that these persons were actually humans. He was surprised to have seen so many humans around the galaxy but from what he had gathered from studying and informing himself, parasites nestling in hosts had exported humanity for milleniums to be slaves, and like a disease, mankind had spread. But there were also lots of breeds, he couldn't really say aliens, because aliens refered to visitors on earth, but he had taken in his mind to call them simply non-humans. He had seen as much non-humans as humans, and then he could divide those categories into human-looking hybrides and non-human-looking hybrides, or half half. It had taken lots of time to be used to that but nothing could shock him anymore.

The hatch opened and Nicholas got out, the access to the ship closing quickly behind him, after all he didn't want Mauo to think he could get in - nobody had the permission to go inside.  
"Good evening, Mauo"  
"Good evening, Nicholas. I brought you something to eat." Mauo offered him the bowl and the glass.  
"Thanks"

Von Stiltskin examined the content of each, the glass contained a fair green liquid and the bowl had some kind of stew in it. He could distinguish badly grinded red and green leaves, with beige chunks. The gravy was thick. It was smelling good, though. Nick smiled at Mauo but made no move to eat. He wanted to scan them first in case there was some things in it that wasn't good for human health. This was the only rule he never broke and never would : never eat something that you've never seen before.

Mauo swallowed and then looked up at the stars up in the sky.  
"I wanted to talk to you privately. I would like to reconsider our deal."  
"You would ?"

Nick hated doing that because it meant troubles.  
"My daughter." Mauo started. "She's… in trouble. The priests of our land… No it's not the right way to start… I'll just start at the beginning."

And he explained about the monsters, the clerics, the ritual of Arkibalt and its necessary sacrifice, Belle being chosen. Everything just spilled out of his mouth, his tone stressed but the more he talked, the more he was relieved, like he could finally confide into someone. Poor guy must have held inside him for years. Mauo told him he thought the beliefs were outdated and no more fitted to this age of civilisation. He didn't want his daughter to fall victim to local superstitions.  
"So… I thought, instead of agriculture…. It may not be the smartest leading decision here but… instead of agriculture, I thought you could give a lift to my daughter to a more civilised place."  
"Ah."

He could understand the request, this man was a father and thinking and acting as such, but no one put his or in this case, her feet in his baby. Now he just had to make the man understand it was no.  
"Mauo, I do not how to say that, but as a rule, I do not fly people"

Mauo looked crestfallen. "You cannot let my daughter die…"  
"I have a strict policy of non interference with the politics of the planet I'm on…"  
Nick's tone was final, his eyes stern, and he kept on. "We have a deal. An irrigation plan against water. That's it. No regociation, no changing terms. I will deliver my part in the morning and you will too. Because no one breaks deals with me." He casually leant against the ship, right next to small hatch hiding a cannon.

After all he didn't live more than a decade alone in space by being soft and accomodating.  
Mauo understood the thinly veiled threat perfectly. "How about a new deal, Nicholas?"  
"No other humans than myself on board of this ship, Mauo"  
"Have the curtesy to hear me out, please."  
Von Stiltskin's eyes narrowed. "But of course, and please, have the curtesy to accept my answer as it will be."  
"We still have elkium." He started gesturing, describing with his hand a cube of one cube meter. "That much. It's yours if you take Belle away from this place, wherever she wants to go."

That was serious food for thought. Elkium was a metal which, once melted, was added to fuel and increased his capacity of at least 200%. It had been very popular a few centuries ago and it had been overexploited and elkium ressources emptied. Nicholas had never used elkium in his life but he knew some little rocks of it could be sold a small fortune. If he took the deal, he was going to be a very rich man. That's something he could definitely afford. He had had his eyes on an artefact for years in an antique store on Queenheart, which had the same markings than his ship and he could use it to further and deepen his researches.

Nick was in a dilemna : principles versus science. And as always science won.  
"Very well, Mauo. You convinced me. We have a new deal."

The men shook their hand.  
"Enjoy your meal, Nicholas. The tanks you gave us to fill will be ready in the morning."  
"Thank you."

Mauo left and Nicholas stayed there, wondering if he had made a mistake accepting the girl on board. After all, he was not the most agreeable of men, he had been on his own for longer he could remember, he had next to no social skills out of deal making, and from what he had seen of the girl, she liked to talk. And god know Nicholas Von Stiltskin had next to no patience for small talks. There was the chance she'd want to go to a planet with girls things, like Amallia, the planet turned shopcenter. He'd gone there once, never again. All those people around… Most of the time, when Nick wasn't flying was spent on Avonlea, in the area 112, or scanning the communication station for deals.

He got inside his ship, and deposited the plate on the scanner and turned it on. He had preprogrammed his DNA in the scanner and it knew to analyse anything he put under, to determine if it was dangerous to humans.  
He waited the usual 3 minutes before the scanner bipped and some green lights blinked. Nick smirked, considering that at first, the colours had been yellow for positive, purple for negative and he had had to work out how to change the colours to red and green. It had taken a lot of time, but he did it. He had been proud. The scanner screen started showing the DNA results of the food but he didn't read them. The green light was enough. He did the same for the drink and was pleased when the drink showed the same result.

He sat in the pilot chair, turned the back of the chair toward the consoles and ate. It was good. It tasted like a lamb stew with orange and mint flavours, no that he really remembered what lamb, orange and mint really tasted like. He had been up in space for so long he thought he could actually taste beef and not recognize what it was. At the beginning, he had tought he could have killed for a barbecue or a beer, now he was just happy to eat something with taste.

He ate quickly, staring into nothingness, lost in his thoughts of irrigation, and drained the glass - it unsurprisingly tasted very metallic. After all, the planet had been drilled for metal, so it had a lot, and the sources and ressources were both underground. Out of politeness, he went into the kitchen and did the dishes. His poor ship. His poor baby. Invaded. This girl would ransack his ship. Maybe he'd just lock her up somewhere while traveling. This was a good idea. She wouldn't be able to touch anything and he would keep an eye on her.

Knocks on the hatch echoed in his ship. Again ? How dare that planet keep on interrupting his musings ? He looked at the outter camera screen and saw Belle. Jeez first the father, now the daughter ? Will this family ever leave him alone ? Sometimes it felt like the universe was paying a fucking cosmic joke on him, and not even a funny one.

He strode to the hatch and opened it, walking out with majestic pride. "Girl." He crossed his arms for effect, and looked down at her. "What do you want?"  
"I'm coming to fetch the bowl, Nicholas."  
Oh. He had his hands empty.  
"I'll go fetch it" Nicholas said, trying to salvage a bit of his pride, and he moved back into the ship to fetch what Mauo had lent him.  
Belle followed him inside. Nick heard her footsteps behind him and he turned. She was INSIDE his baby.  
"What do you think you're doing, exactly ?"  
"Following you in after you didn't rudely invite me."  
"I didn't want you to come in !"  
Belle tutted. "So you'd leave a woman out there in the cold ? How educated. How gentlemanly."

Nicholas just stared at her. The nerves of that girl. He took too long to form a reply in his head and she took that as a sign of victory. She passed by him and up into the consoles room.  
"Ooooh what are all those buttons doing ?"

That sentence seemed to shake Nick out of the trance that girl had put him under and he ran - he ran!- into the room she was in.  
"STOP !"

She turned and looked at him "Oh you finally found your tongue and feet ?" She sneered a little.  
"Touch nothing ! Nothing, hear me ?"

He put himself between her and the console, the terrified look of a father defending his child against a monster in his eyes. "Don't touch her !"

Belle looked confused. "Her ?"  
"My baby. Don't touch my baby !"  
"Who is your baby ?"

Nicholas gestured at the space around her. "My ship, of course, who else ?" His tone was full of contempt.  
Belle cocked an eyebrow and she grinned. "You genderized your ship ?"  
"Yes."  
"For real ?"  
"Yes."  
"Oh."

Belle just smiled at him, a little tenderly. "Nicholas… I would not have touched those buttons without you allowing me to do it. I'm not an idiot."

Doubt wrote itself all over his face and she frowned and pursed her lips as she continued. "I came for the bowl."  
"The bowl ? Oh. The bowl. Yes."

Nicholas walked forward, forcing Belle to walk backward till she touched the wall, as far of the console he could put her.  
"Do not move, under any circumstances." he ordered, trying to be stern, looking into her blue eyes.  
Belle gave him a very beautiful smile.

His nostrils flared and he strode out of the room, trying to fall over or worse, run away.

He went to the kitchen, his ears perked, ready to go back at the least noise. He grabbed the clean bowl, spoon and glass and walked as fast as he could back into the cockpit.  
"Here they are" He announced, coming in the room.

She didn't appear to have heard him. She seemed lost in the observation of the console room, the room that was his life. She was looking around, in awe at the screens, the lights flashing and the various scanners noises.

Nick paused and examined her. The girl was quite cute, with big blue eyes, and plump lips. Long reddish brown hair and round face. Yeah, she was pretty. And her next sentence made him decide she was also smart.  
"The reddish screen… Is it a magnetic field scanner ? To analyse how the planets' inner core meet and fight the solar winds ?"

He took a long moment before answering her.  
"Yeah."  
"What do you use it for ?"  
"To see how active the inner core is, helps me determine how old the planet is and if I could survive out there, as an exposition to solar winds would kill me. Also, flying creatures can use it to guide themselves, and I had to trap some of them, it helps finding their trajectory. I use it to find my way too sometimes."

Belle was listening to him, fascinated. It made him feel weird in his belly and he decided he didn't like the weight of her gaze on him.  
"Your bowl, dearie."

Belle took the kitchenwares and held them against her chest.  
"Thank you."  
"The meal was good… Your doing ?"  
"Yes." Her reply was so low he had to strain his ear to hear.  
"you.. you cook well."

Both cleared their throat in the same time and Nick took a step backward.  
"K, you got what you wanted.. I think you should-"  
"Dad told me what you're going to do for me. Thank you"  
"No matter."

Von Stiltskin cleared his throat. "Look, Belle, it's a deal with your father. Nothing personal"  
"Still thank you. I owe you my life"  
"I'm just… No.. I am the guy your father pays to fly you somewhere. If you owe your life to someone, it's to your father. I think you should leave. I have a departure to organise."  
Belle shook her head and took a paper out of the pocket of her jacket. "Here are the coordinates to the Elkium reserve, does this ship have a beaming technology ?"  
"It can teleport." Nick spoke through clenched teeth. He hated giving details about his ship but sometimes it was necessary. He had to be practical.  
"Perfect. What time do we depart tomorrow ?"  
"Would the Princess agree to a sunrise departure ? See your sun one last time before leaving ?"

Belle looked a bit perplexed at his saying but went on. "The sacrifice requires a departure at sunrise, we'll have to leave before that."

Nick nodded. "Night departure… We could just leave now, then. Keep the bowl as a memory" He smirked, knowing no one could ever leave under such short notice.  
"I have to say goodbye to my father."  
"Of course, of course… Are you aware you'll need credits ? Lots of money…"  
"My father has given me his savings" Belle replied. "I've readied a bag with some clothes, money, some food"

Nicholas thought Belle was way too optimistic. "You'll need more. Do you have habilities ? Can you do things ? I mean, okay you can clothe yourself, support yourself a little while, but when it's all gone ? A pennyless person is bound to do stupid things, Belle. And there's bad guys out there. So, what can you do ?"

Belle thought for a moment. "I've read a lot… Maybe I could work in a place where they keep books ? I've read it existed before."  
"Before. Now all is on tablet… Like you have. I guess you could use your savings to buy a small spaceship and go sell tablets and knowledge to the outter world. Could be something."

Belle looked at him as if he had given her the world, and his uneasy feeling returned. "Well it's just an idea" His voice sounded defensive though he knew there was no attack. "You don't have to follow it."  
"Thank you, Nicholas."  
"What time shall I expect you back ?"  
"Sunrise will do, actually. I want the clerics to choke on their sacrifice as they see me fly away."

Nicholas relaxed a little and chuckled. "Alright" He stroked the nape of his neck, looking up slightly before turning his gaze back to Belle who replied.  
"And come rescue me if they lock me up."  
"Certainly not in our deal, Dearie. I shall wait, but you'll rescue yourself."

Belle grinned back at Von Stiltskin. "Maybe I'll arrive a bit sooner, then"  
"I don't sleep often, I'll be awake when you arrive."

What in the world did happen to him for him to issue such an invitation? He never had before, it was a rule. No one on board but him. No one ever on board but him. He was going crazy. He was going to deliver that girl to Avonlea, entrust her into Jeff's care, and sanitize the spaceship and forget everything about that planet and Belle. Then he was going to sell that Elkium, collect the money, and go to Queenheart to buy the artifact he had had his eye on for months, analyse the hell out of it and learn more about his ship. That was his plan. That was his perfect plan.

"Then, see you later, Nicholas." Belle smiled at him, and took her leave.

He stayed for a long staring at the corridor going from cockpit to outside and jerked out of his thoughts when he felt the wind on his face. Yeah, he didn't need that kind of trouble. He walked to the console and closed the hatch off with a vengeful push against a poor innocent button, before apologizing mentally to it.

—

Mauo was in his house, sat by the fire, knees to his chest, arms around his knees. He was feeling devastated. His daughter was going to leave. His territory was going to be heirless. He knew pointing the finger at someone was pointless, in the end, it was circumstances that led there. If his daughter didn't leave with the stranger, she would be walking to the Headcity and he'd never see her again - the clerics had to believe the sacrifice had been made to leave her alone. If his daughter left with Nicholas, he'd bring her somewhere she wants to go. His daughter had such a curious mind, he could show her so much.

It was a leap of faith. He knew nothing about the man who came from the stars, but the way he carried himself, his way of talking spoke of a man who was used to responsibilities and his mini rant about respecting the concluded deals had some kind of worth to Mauo's eyes. However, he was not stupid either, and he was thanking the Old Gods Belle had been given some male education. His daughter could handle the small man Nicholas was, if he decided to behave like the scum of the universe. He had heard of people eating the flesh of other people, ransacking their spaceship, stealing their goods, and selling the survivors as slave. Nicholas didn't seem like a slave trader but appearance could be deceiving. Fortunately, his daughter was as prepared as she could be.

He knew he had to be strong. After Belle's departure in spaceship - he had to admit the other plan was better on a discretion plan, but changing planet was putting more distance between her and the clerics - he would be questionned but he would feign ignorance and pretend to be devastasted her daughter had betrayed her education, her traditions and the honor of his blood. He also knew that anyone knowing Belle would know it was a lie, because if Belle was one thing apart from curious, it was brave. If she had no choice, she would go into battle unarmed, trying to survive barehanded. Mauo was actually very proud of her, so proud he didn't even regret she wasn't a boy, and he had appointed her as Heiress.

Chances would be he would lose his status of chief of his tribe, but as long as his daughter was safe, he didn't mind. Maybe he would even be exiled, but if he played the part of the victim properly, hopefully, it wouldn't come to that. The ones he pitied were his Tribe members. Those poor ones would suffer the most when the clerics took power over them. Any tribe under their lead slowly turned into fanatical devotees, and that was a fate Mauo would have liked to spare them. He had acted as a father, he had acted as a man he could still face in the mirror, and Mauo the Leader had bowed down to Mauo the Father. Of course, there would be consequences for everybody, and though he couldn't spare his people, he could make sure himself was the one facing the worst repercussions.

Belle opened the door of their home, and Mauo immediately took a more relaxed stance. He didn't want to worry her more than she should already be. She looked happy, and it made his heart break a little, which he felt guilty about. He was genuinely happy to be able to give her her dream but he would have liked her to mourn their parting a bit more obviously.

Mauo had readied her bags, now that she was not walking any longer, she could bring things with her. He had given her memories, trinkets for her to hold close and remember her papa and her mommy. He had prepared bags of dried food for her to eat, tanks of water for Nick, medical supplies, and documents on plants, etc..  
"good evening, Belle"  
"Father…"

Belle walked to the shelf, put the kitchenware back to its rightful place and went to sit by his father's right side.

She smiled at him, a bit sadly maybe she was not as unaffected as he thought she was. It was comforting in a weird way.  
"You know… You can never come back."  
"I know, Father." She sighed. "I'll try to send things… when it gets better"  
"Belle, keep everything. You will have more need of it than me. I want you to be careful. Careful is your motto, alright ?"  
"Yes Father, careful will my other name."

Mauo leant to his left and grabbed a cover. He swallowed, his face fell while Belle could not see it and carefully composed his mask back before turning to her, with a slight smile. He wrapped the cover over his daughter with trembling hands, and his grip on the cover tightened as he pressed her into his side in a protective hug.  
"Belle…"

The lump in his throat prevented him from saying more.  
"I know, papa, I know. I love you too.. I'll miss you too."

Mauo let the tears in his eyes fall, and he sobbed, happy she couldn't see his face, and he crushed her to him.  
"My girl… I love you so much.. Promise me you'll be fine, promise me you'll no one mistreat you. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry I cannot come… I'm sorry I can't protect you better than that"

Belle didn't answer at first, holding her father tight, burying her face in his chest as she started to cry too. "I promise, papa, I promise… I understand… Protect your people in my honor… I'll be fine…"

They held each other, crying, for a long time. The fire died, the stars dimmed as the sky announced the rose of the sun.  
"Belle… It is time. I'll walk you, and help you carry your bags"

Belle nodded and added. "Papa, Nicholas said he could teleport things on board. We should just carry the bags behind the house and Nicholas will transport them on his spaceship. It will be… I guess easier."

Mauo stood, and helped Belle up, brushing her clothes. "You should change your clothes… Put some clean ones on, freshen up. I'll carry the bags outside." He was forcing himself to behave professionally, to act like the proper leader he was not anymore.

Belle looked at him and nodded. "Very well, papa. I will go"  
"If you… If you want to.. take other things, well… " He picked up a leather bag, and give it to her. "Put them inside that. I packed up everything I thought you would want but… it's your call."

Belle gratefully took the bag, nodding in thanks. "Papa. I'll never thank you enough for what you're doing.. I know it will probably be hard for you when I'm gone…"

Mauo cut her off with a raised hand. "Say no more, Belle. I will survive, I will live and make the better out of it. Maybe I'll even remarry ? Who knows. But you. I would like you to find a nice place where you feel good, find yourself a gentle and educated person, with whom you feel well, and live happily. All I want is your happiness, Belle, alright ? Be careful, I love you, and if you ever have to come back, do so. I'll fight off the clerics. *kisses her* We'll find a way of dealing with the monsters that doesn't involve stupidity."

Belle hugged him hard. "Papa…"

Mauo let her cuddle him a bit longer and then took a step backward to break the hug. "Go prepare yourself, Belle, it's time."

Belle looked up at him, and nodded. "Very well, Papa."  
She turned around and left the room, toward the bathroom.

"Belle ?"

She stopped and turned around to look at him.  
"Yes Papa ?"  
"Put some practical clothes on, like in training, alright? You never know what you have to start running."

She nodded again, a sad smile on her face and in her eyes and she walked to the bathroom to wash.

Mauo grabbed the first bags, and carried her out. She had 6 bags that he had packed himself, plus one, if she chose to add another, and Nicholas' water tanks, the 8th of them.  
He carried everything out quite slowly as the bags were filled up to the brink, he had almost not been able to close them. The water tanks were quite heavy for a lone man but thankfully they came with little wheels that could be hidden. He had put 80 liters in every one of them. Once everything was readied, he debated with the idea of covering everything with a cover to hide the contents of Nicholas' payment. The water tanks were expected, but not the bags.. He did his best to hide them behind the tanks, as much out of sight as he could.

Mauo waited for Belle and 15 minutes later, she appeared, dressed in practical clothes, as he had asked. She was wearing dark brown leather trousers, fit but not tight, a belt and boots in the same leather. She also wore a beige tunic tucked in with a reddish brown thick rain coat reaching down her mid thighs. He could see she had tucked in gloves in the coat pockets, and she had a small knife sheathed at her belt.  
"Oh Belle… You're lovely."

He smiled warmly at her and hugged her once more. He squeezed her tight and took the hood of her coat to put it over her head to hide your face.  
He explained in a low voice. "I don't want the clerics to recognize you."

Belle smiled up at him and nodded in acknowledgement. "Let's be quick, papa. Nicholas is expecting us."

Mauo let go of her and took her hand, leading her quickly toward Nicholas' ship. They walked fast and in silence. They were on their guard, but Belle's eyes were inspecting everything, trying to carve every details in her memory.  
Soon they were at the spaceship and Mauo was knocking on the hatch.  
A little red dot blinked and Nick's voice raised up in the still of the night.  
"Coming ! Get away from the hatch or it'll crush you."

The two Marchlandsians stepped aside. The red dot shut down and the hatch opened one minute later in a smooth and silent move.  
"Good morning, ready to depart ?"

Belle smiled at Nicholas, in a friendly way, and he looked away quickly.  
Mauo replied "Not really, but we need to do it." He turned to Belle and sighed, taking her hands in his.

Nicholas nodded at them and sensing his presence was not needed, went back into the cockpit, leaving the hatch open. He sat in his armchair, and he waited, with an impeding sense of doom. He had seen they had no bags, and figured they'd have to make two stops, one to teleport her belongings, and another to teleport the elkium. He had looked onto the scanner and seen the elkium was located in a cave hidden in a cannyon, quite far the Tribe village, and rather in the middle of nowhere. Nick figured it must have been a treasure kept for rainy days for half a millenium, and now it was all his.

Problem was it was in a cave, so Nick had planned on destroying the roof of it with laser cannons and then with the help of the scanner, he'd teleport his payment on board. And then they'd be on their way. 'Good thinking, old boy, good thinking.' He thought as he looked impatiently toward the corridor leading to the storage dock in which the hatch leading outside was situated.

Outside, the raising sunlight was hurrying Belle and Mauo's farewells. They both could hear the village starting awaken and they knew she had to be in the spaceship before the clerics could see them saying goodbye.  
Mauo hugged her tight. "I love you, Belle. Please… Always remember that. Take care"  
"I love you too, Papa… thank you for what you did.. for me… And please, don't let them bully you. You have strong warriors, and they are loyal to you."

Belle stroked her father's face and she kissed his cheek sadly.  
"Goodbye, Papa… Go home before you're seen"

He had troubles letting go of her, but he forced himself, staring at the ground.  
"Bye Belle"

His voice broke and he turned his back on her, striding away, his back rigid, his shoulders shaking and Mauo somehow found the strength not to look back.  
Belle's eyes filled with tears too and she entered the hatch, crossed the storage docks and walked up the corridor before entering the cockpit.  
"Nicholas."

Nicholas pressed the button to close the hatch, turned and got up, a joyful energy in his step, until he saw her and froze. She was crying. She was in his ship, and crying. He had a human on board and she was emotional. And he had no clue about what to do, so he acted as if everything was alright in the world.  
"I suggest you go into your bedroom while we take off, dearie. I assume I'll have to go to your house to take your packings and the water tanks ?" At her nod, he went on. "Good. I'll teleport down the irrigation plans too. Come with me."

The cockpit had two exits, one toward the storage docks, and another corridor leading to the kitchen. In that corridor, there was a narrow staircase leading to another corridor with closed doors appearing after a 90° turn on the left.  
Nicholas led her to the closest door to the right and pressed a button on the side of the door.

The doors separated in the middle, letting a bedroom cabin appear. It was small with a large bunk bed against a side of the wall, a small desk and chair on the other side. There was a small round window. It was impersonal, there were no memories of anything, however it was clean and more than she expected.

Belle turned to Von Stiltskin and smiled up at him.  
"Thank you very much, Nicholas, it is perfect."  
"Yeah. Well, I'll be in the cockpit. The room with the consoles, it's called a cockpit" He figured that if she had never been out of her village, she wouldn't know a spaceship parts, but then she had recognized his magnetical scanner. He didn't know on which foot to stand with her, and it was very frustrating. "just stay in here, lay down for the take-off, we'll fly over the village, teleport the water and your bags onboard, find the elkium, and we're off. You gave some thoughts to where you want to go ? Your father asked me to fly you where you want to, so… you choose. If you don't know yet, my plans are to go to Avonlea. Then we'll see."

Belle smiled a little. "Alright. That sounds good. I've heard Avonlea was a nice planet."

Nicholas agreed. "Yeah there's a lot of people there, it is easy to blend in, and it is ideally placed in the galaxy so that merchants and travellers have to stop there."  
"It sounds perfect for a start."  
"Avonlea, then."  
Nicholas nodded at Belle, and took his leave. She stayed in the small cabin, and she heard the engines starting, and the whole structure of the ship vibrated, not much, just enough to notice and to forget once used to it.

Belle sat on the bed, smoothed the wrinkled sheet with her hands and laid. Her pillow was quite firm under her head. She was feeling…both sad and happy. She was torn between excited and terrified. Actually,she was feeling so many things at once she was almost dizzy. Nausea rose in her belly and added itself to the mix of her feelings as the spaceship took off.

Nicholas' voice cracked from out of nowhere.  
"-ver used it before, how I know it works ? Okay. Belle ? We've taken off. Any discomfort you're experimenting will be solved once you're used to the artificial gravity. Just lay down, get warm, and wait. It'll go on its own"  
Belle looked around and spotted an audiocom in the corner of the room. She decided to listen to him and crawled the covers. She buried her face in the pillow and breathed deeply to try to diminish this nausea inside her. And then the smell hit her. The bed wasn't freshly made, and the scent of it wasn't the one of a soap. It was stale, strong, male, Nicholas. He had given her his bedroom, his bed. She was surprised, a little offended he seemed to think she wasn't worth preparing another bedroom for, but at least he had given her a cabin. Even if he didn't have the decency to prepare it properly.

She rolled on her back and stared at the ceiling, before sighing again. She felt screwed. She felt the happiest of her life, she felt exhilarated, and at the same time, she felt like she had lost everything. It was probable right. She had lost everything she was familiar with, everyone she knew had been removed from her life the moment she agreed to come on board. Belle knew she would bounce back with time. Her life would be filled with so much novelty,a new life whether sedentary or nomad, new friends, everything new. She tried to cheer herself with thoughts of a happy life, but all she could see in her mind was her father's tense back, and trembling shoulders as he left.

Tears fell down her face as her stomach heaved and she tried not to vomit. She choke back on bile and she curled up on herself, crying harder and willing for this torment to be gone already. What was happening to her ? She understood her confusion and she hoped her getting used to the artificial gravity wouldn't take long.

Nick was doing the thing he loved most in the universe : flying his Baby.

He had put the irrigation plans in the storage dock, ready to be teleported down.

He gracefully took his spaceship up, activated the artificial gravity, feeling the gravity setting his weight properly and smirked. Now he could fly his Baby upside down and still feel like he was walking on a planet.  
He turned on the bottom camera to see exactly what its teleportation beam was above. He pinpointed it just above the supplies and made the transfer.

A purple see-through ray left the ship, and settled down on the packages, and in a blink, they were on board, and the plans were at the spot they were in on the planet.

A crowd was gathered north of the village and he realised they were there to see Belle off, to watch her walk to her death. He saw the hooded priests running around, looking for something, or rather someone. His passenger. Such stupidity was blasphemy to him, and he realised that as long as Belle was in his Baby, she would be in his protection.

After all, Nicholas had a deal with her father, and he was going to respect it.

He knew he had to get away from this place as quick as possible, for her sake. They could do nothing, but he didn't want them to have any ideas.

He entered the coordinates Belle had given him to find the Elkium and find the place 243 earth-miles north of the village, bordering the Hills, directly inside the monster's territory.  
He set the flying course and the autopilot. From his calculations, the flight was about 20 minutes long. He would gently fly over the planet, not wanting his engines to do it any damages to its ecosystem. Hyperspace speed or faster-than-light speed in an atmosphear could be worse for environnement than a ship losing its oil at sea on Earth.

He turned the audiocom back on, and before he could say anything, he heard Belle crying heavily. He was definitely intruding on a private moment. He would definitely need to reset the audiocom. Chats from afar wouldn't be possible but it would work like talkies walkies : one would have to push the audiocom button to be heard. It would be fairer to Belle. He turned the audiocom off, figuring she'd rather be alone. Noone wanted anyone to be witness to their fit of crying.

Von Stiltskin flew Baby to the Elkium hide and after positioning the spaceship right over the coordinates, he had the displeasure of noticing the elkium was in a cave, and as it was covered, it couldn't be teleported as it was.

Time to get the lazer cannons working, then. He moved the ship, dipping her nose down, pointing the cannon toward the cave. The 45° dip allowed him to see the Hills through the windshield. More mountains than Hills, truly, rocky, desertic… Quite ugly, actually. The Marchlands may have been a desert but the Hills were worse than that.

Nicholas sighed and targetted the Cave before opening the cannon and pulverised the roof of the cave. The noise was loud,very loud.

Belle's voice was suddenly heard and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. "Nicholas, is everything ok ?" She sounded still queezy and tired, and her voice was still a bit slurred.

She was touching his Baby's buttons. How dared she ? Why did she think she had the fucking right to touch her buttons ? He glared at the audiocom as if it could kill Belle with his glare and he growled. Then he remembered she could hear him growling just as he heard her crying.

Nick was not surprised she had managed to get the communication stations to work. He cleared his throat and answered in a grim voice to hide his scare and fury.  
"Aye. Everything is perfect, I'm getting the elkium back but I have to dig a little to get to it."  
"Is… there a bathroom somewhere ?"  
"Yes" Nicholas replied. He figured that after all the crying she had done, washing her face wouldn't be a luxury, even a vital necessity, but it didn't mean he had to like it. It meant going out of his cabin, walking through the corridors and touching other buttons she was never meant to touch. He guessed that he could allow her to go to the bathroom. If he kept her confined to his cabin, her bad smell would stay permanently there and he didn't want that at all. "Door on the right from where you are"  
"Thank you."  
"You cannot wash yourself until I plug the water tanks, though. There may be a small reserve for the sinks in the pipes, but don't try the shower."  
"Thank you" Belle repeated.

She fell silent a few seconds, and then spoke again, in a small voice, quite pathetic actually.  
"How do I open the door?"

Nicholas chuckled, trying to keep it silent, but not really managing. He could just picture Belle with a puppy look, lost at not being able to figure it out on her own and furious at herself being forced to ask for help.  
"Right of the door, there's a small button glowing green. You see it ?"  
"I do."  
"Great. If you press it, the door will open. Brush it, it becomes red, it means the door is locked and can be opened only from the side where the button which has been pressed is."  
"Thank you."  
"Welcome, Belle."

She turned the audiocom off on her side. He stared at it, thinking it was disturbingly weird to have it working. In all his years onboard, it was the first time it worked. He brushed his fingerpad against the button as he dropped his hand and focused on the cave.

The dust from the pulverization had been scattered by the wind and a crater with a gray metal cube in the middle of it appeared in stead of the cave entryway.

Nicholas whispered a few words of victory under his breath and flew the ship just above the elkium. With the help of the camera, the metal was promptly teleported on board.

Von Stiltskin allowed himself a few moment of triumph and walked promptly to the storage dock to look at it.  
It was a cube of one meter large, on one meter long and it was also one meter high, just as Mauo had described.

He ran his hand on it, finding it lukewarm to the touch, very smooth but dull-coloured.

Nick used the teleporter to move the cube against the wall and secured it, using straps.  
He also rolled the 8 tanks of water in the kitchen, each one having a reserved spot in the walls. He connected the various taps and faucets making water available in the ship. Out of the 8 tanks, 7 were destined for consumption and the last one was used for showering.

It wasn't a shower in the earth sense of the word. Aboard Baby, showering meant being envelopped in a mist of water, sanitizer and odor remover being mixed together. Nick figured he should have explained that to his passenger but decided it would be more of a laugh if she discovered it on her own and tried to figure out whether it was broken or not.

Nick went to the audiocom situated in the storage dock and activated it.  
"Belle, you can shower now."

The answer came, a bit crackled, deforming her voice.  
"Very well. Thank you."  
Nicholas made a mental voice to check the speaker of the audiocom here and the mic of the one in the bathroom. Maybe humidity had got to it ?

Anyhow, now that he had readied Baby for her travel back to Avonlea, it was time to go. Though… fuck, Belle was in the shower. He couldn't go into hyperspace with her washing herself.  
Well, technically he could, but if she wasn't warned, the spurt could unbalance her and she'd fall and injure herself, then she'd whine, and one thing Von Stiltskin didn't want to do was listening to a girl – an emotional girl, though the fact she was a girl didn't matter to him – he just wasn't in the mood to listen to any human being, especially emotional ones whine to him because of a bruise or a cut.

So he readied his ship. He oriented her in the right direction, he made sure the engines were ready and warmed up, the cooling liquids were good, he checked three time whether the energy stocked was enough to make the trip or if he'd have to stop on the way to refuel…

Baby was as good as she could be. He even dusted the consoles and after 20 minutes of patience – and Nick was really proud of himself, because he'd never had to wait for anyone before, he heard steps in the upper floor.  
"Belle ? Go secure yourself. We are leaving."  
"Can I come down and watch ?"

Nick glanced at the copilot chair in front of a console he never turned on, as it was not needed.  
That was a real bother. If she came down, maybe she'll want to stay all the time there, near his consoles. He didn't want that. And she was only a passenger. She would stay with him one week, time to go to Avonlea and then he'd never see her again. So she didn't need to see how his Baby worked.  
"Yeah sure. Come down, if you want."

He wondered what the fuck had happened to his words between the brain and the tongue. Never, oh so never would he invite anyone to see how his little wonder worked. Why, why, why in all the universe's deities he didn't believe in did he say it was alright for her to come and watch ? He was angry. He was angry at himself. He was angry at her too. For asking questions. For making him answer yes despite wanting to say no, stay in your cabin and never go out before we've arrived. And it's not as if she needed the knowledge, or as if she could ever need the knowledge, so why did she want to come down ?

Belle came down, dressed as she was before and came to stand behind his chair, effectively shutting his inner voice up. Nick leant forward unconsciously, as if to be the furthest he could be.  
He pointed toward the other chair,which was on his right and in front of him, by the windshield.  
"Go there", he ordered "Sit and buckle."

Belle nodded and obeyed. The security belt was X-shaped, fastening themselves in the middle of her chest, between her breasts. She observed the buckles a few seconds and inserted the smaller one into the bigger one, and it bipped. She looked at him for confirmation and he nodded his approval.

Her belt however was too loose to be useful. Nicholas got up and walked behind her. "Tell me when it fits you. It must not prevent your being at ease but it must prevent your hips and back from leaving the chair".  
He started tightening the buckles slowly, Belle had the impression tentacles were ensnaring her little by little, Von Stilstsin's breathing didn't help the little claustrophobic feeling rising in her.

She was slowly realising she was about to go up in space where so much could go wrong with a man she barely knew. She swallowed.

Nicholas tightened the security belt as it should be, and looked over her shoulder to her face to see if she was alright. From her expression, she wasn't.

He circled her chair and slowly kneeled in front of her, careful of not being too close and not touching her.  
"I know it is scary. You're going to do fine, alright ? We're going to hyperspace to Avonlea. It's going to take a week. Despite the fact we'll be flying, once we're in hyperspace, you won't feel a thing. You'll feel as if you were walking on a planet. You'll feel things only when I change the speed." He figured explaining what was going to happen would be a good way of distracting her. He was going to give her info to process. "I've done this for a long long time now and I'm still whole. And believe me, I went through my share of problems." At her slightly panicked look, he added quickly "But it won't happen this week. Your father has entrusted you in my care, and you can think whatever you want of me, but I will respect my word. You'll arrive on Avonlea safe and sound, and if you don't want to stay there, I'll fly you anywhere you want."

Nicholas looked satisfied of his little speech and got up to walk to his own chair. Belle craned her head to look at him, not really believing that guy. If he had thought of reassuring her, he was mistaken. She guessed he was doing whatever he could but he could not a lot.  
She shook her head in disbelief and looked straight in front of her, breathing deeply in and out. Her nausea had almost gone, she was still a bit dizzy but she was doing as best as she could under these circumstances. She didn't want to be locked up in his cabin for a week when she could be down here, observing how a ship worked.

Nicholas started pressing buttons, observing the screens in front of him, for any variables going wrong,but so far so good. Everything was normal. The engines purred louder and higher, the shield strengthening bathed the room in gold and the indoor light became stronger as it compensated the loss of natural light.

"Nicholas ? What is happening ?"  
"I'm unbalancing the shield power. We're about to tear a hole into your atmostphear. It's not spaceship hull friendly. The main pressure will happen to the front." He pointed through the glass in front of them at the very long nose of the ship. "and on the side,considering her shape. The ozone layer is very thick so my Baby needs extra protection. I'm diminishing the shield protecting the stern and the underside and I'm giving the power saved to the areas in need of it. As it was, it should have been enough.. but.. you never know." After a while, he added rushingly "better be safe than sorry, as you're… well… here."

Right. He meant to make his passenger feel at ease. He was a serious believer of intent being meaningless but he was starting to look for excuses for himself. He couldn't see her face anymore but her body was all tensed up and her fist on the chair handle was white from being squeezed. Obviously he had failed, and despite what he thought, it bothered him a little.  
"Look, you have no reason to trust me, but it's your first, it's normal you're nervous and scared but I've done this thousands of time, and it's going to be ok. In a few minutes, you'll see stars, and you'll be in awe. Got it ?"

Nicholas was sounding annoyed and impatient and for a second, he wondered if she thought he thought she was a crybaby or something like that, and he decided he didn't care. He cleared his throat.  
"Ready, girl ?"  
"I think so."  
"Good. We'll start by increasing our speed and it's going to tremble as it goes through the ozone. It's normal. Then it's going to be black and we'll be up in space. Oh, and the shield and glass are made to protect your eyes from the sun rays, so you can look at them, ok ?"  
"Alright."

She sounded nervous and he heard her exhale loud and short once. Good, she was gathering her guts.

Nicholas started to fly slowly, and saw Belle straightening a little, looking in front of her and though the windows on her side at the landscape. He smiled a little, remembering his first time on board of a spaceship, it wasn't his Baby though, but the feeling was the same.  
He petted the console lovingly, feeling the soft metal under the pads of his fingers had always been a great comfort.  
Suddenly the spaceship lurched. There was no impact sound. It just lurched like a plane flying through turbulences, again and again. He didn't understand what was causing it, they were too low for ozone, and air holes in the cloud weren't enough to impact Baby.

"Nicholas ? What's happening ?" Belle asked in a scared voice.  
"I do not know !" He snapped at her.

He turned on the underside cameras and looked.  
He saw big rocks flying toward Baby, the shield enough to dissolve them before they touched her but not enough to stop the impacting force from affecting the flying course.

He resetted the shield as they were and the lurches stopped. He stopped the spaceship and held it in stationary flight.

Nicholas got angry. His Spaceship was what he considered the most important in his eyes and no one touched her. No one.

He used the cameras to find who the son of a bitch was, who the fuck dared threaten his Baby.  
He pinpointed running little figures on the planet, but then everything was little when up here. He zoomed and saw non-human looking beings.

Some were on two legs, but the running ones were on four. They had yellow eyes, a short muzzle and when they were snarling, the head was almost split in two, teeth in a spiral inside their mouth. They had six limbs, each coming with its set of razor claws.  
"Belle ? Red, ugly beings, four arms, two legs, lots of teeth ? It rings a bell to you ?"  
"These are the monsters who have attacked the Marchlands for centuries."  
"The Hills… It's quite the barren area, right ?"  
"Yes…" Belle answered "No one have never been able to settle down there because of them. And it's mainly rocks anyhow."

"Then Belle… The war is over."

He targetted the monsters, locking the lasers on their appearance, then had an idea. As the stern was facing the Hills, he had an idea. A terrible but very efficient idea. It was a barren and rocky area. Nicholas grinned wide.  
"Belle, what I am going to do is something you must never do under any circumstances when you have your own spaceship."  
"Nicholas, what are you going to do ?"  
"I'm going to use your planet's oxygene, Belle."

Von Stiltskin didn't answer but he lowered the stationary flight altitude and pushed the engine to the maximum, before turning on the gas, but he didn't turn the stationary flight lever off.

Outside, huge flames left the engines and thousand of throats released loud howls of pain.

Nicholas rotated the spaceship to make sure everyone of those things were bathed in fire. He turned off the engine and stabilised the ship back to horizontal and checked the screens. A very large area of the Hills were on fire, and running panicking monsters on fire spread it even more.

He used the laser guns to shoot the rare ones who didn't catch fire and once he was sure they were all dead, he stopped shooting.

He slowly breathed out, feeling better and turned his head to look at Belle.  
She was frozen, hands tight around the armchair. She sounded horrified when she spoke.  
"What have you done?"  
"Ended the war. Congratulations, your people have won. I'm flying back home. There's no need for you to depart now."  
"What ? No, this is not our deal."  
"I made no deal with you. I want to talk to your father. The reason for your being here is no more."  
"Nicholas !" Belle was sounding desperate now.

Nick utterly ignored her interruption and went on talking. "No need to leave your planet. You must be happy." He started typing furiously on the keyboard of the console. "And while I'm at it…" His tongue wetted his lower lip before worrying it with his teeth. "There."

He turned to Belle, a smirk on his lips, looking mighty proud of himself, the picture of arrogance himself. He hooked his left thumb to his belt and his right hand on his foldable cane in the holster hung to his right thigh. Belle rolled her eyes, and she sighed.  
"Why ? Why have you done this ?"  
"They attacked us. They threw rocks at my spaceship." He didn't seem to realise his fingertips were patting the console in front of her.

By now, Belle had realised Nicholas was deeply attached to his spaceship, even if she didn't understand why.  
"But… It's just a spaceship…" She pointed around her. "All of this, it's… just metal"  
"SHE IS NOT JUST A SPACESHIP !"

He had yelled.

Belle unbuckled herself and faced Nicholas, she was not about to face a yelling man while being tied down to an armchair. He continued shouting, though in a lower voice than before.  
"My spaceship is not just metal ! Got it ? She is so much more ! She is perfect ! She is faithful ! She is so much more than you will ever be !"

She was scared. He was standing, his eyes were darker,he was snarling, his left hand curled possessively around the console. He was almost fuming.  
"Nicholas… Calm down…"

She approached him, forcing herself to look like she wasn't about to flee away in terror. He was staring into her eyes, murder in his pupils, narrowing them slowly, snarling… Belle faced him bravely, glaring back, nostrils flaring.  
The console started to bip and blink green fast and repeatedly.

Nicholas blinked and looked away at his own console. He turned his back on Belle and went to see the readings. He sat back on the captain's chair. "Good girl. Exactly what I wanted… Perfect… Yes…"

Belle rolled her eyes and sat back on the copilot armchair arm, her body turned toward Nick to keep watching him.  
He glanced at her and said angrily "We're going back to your village."  
"No !"  
"YES !"

She felt devastated.  
"I've killed all the monsters" He snarled. "Think of your daddy, sooo happy to have you back…" He sounded so sarcastic it hurt Belle. "Your war is over."  
"You didn't kill all the monsters, Nicholas."  
" So you think. My Baby you were so prompt to belittle will take care of that." He pointed at the green lights. "See this ? It means the monsters' appearance has been recorded in the lazer guns' memory. As we fly back, they will shoot at every monsters they see. No more monsters, Belle." He sneered.

Belle shook her head, clearly bothered. "No Nicholas… It's not about that. You cannot bring me back… The deal…"  
"You're welcome to go sit in my bedroom if you like but you will go back to your village."  
"Nicholas"  
"ENOUGH !"

They sat glaring at each other again.  
"This is pointless" Von Stiltskin muttered and he turned to his console to touch the screen frantically. The spaceship moved and Belle sighed again, sitting down in the armchair again. The spaceship was slower this time, shooting from time to time. At each shooting, monsters were killed.

To be honest, Belle was happy the war


	3. Episode 2 : Avonlea

EPISODE 2 - AVONLEA

Von Stiltskin didn't remember having ever been so angry before.

He had been furious for two days now, since he had discovered the little stowaway in his storage areas.

Belle was actually contrite at having been forced to hide but she really didn't want to stay on her planet. She had reminded him that he had agreed to take her to a place of her choice in exchange of elkium and when he had deposited her on the planet, he had kept the metal. It was a breech of the contract he had made with her father and as he had reminded her dear father, no one broke deals with Nicholas Von Stiltskin and Nicholas Von Stiltskin never broke deals with anyone.

This simple logic had sent Nick straight into the helliest of mood, and the atmosphear onboard was tense at best, stormy like a bitch at worst. He was sulking at having been bested in his own games by a girl barely out of teenage years and coming from an uneducated zone of the galaxy.

Nick hated Belle and he never lost an occasion to make her feel unwelcome whereas she behaved like the perfect guest but always reminded him of his duties to her, like feeding her, and giving her a place to sleep.

In the end, he had given her a spare cabin, not about to give his own again, since she told him sheets were like humans, they got washed and freshened.

And so, Belle ended up in the cabin the furthest away from Nick's.

The first floor of the ship was made of two bathrooms and six bedrooms, all together in the middle of the ship while the corridor circled around the block. Nick's bedroom was the first on the right, then there was two empty bedrooms and the used bathroom. The corridor made then a half turn, leading to an unused bathroom, Belle's bedroom, and after this, two other empty bedrooms.

Belle had carried her bags herself to her cabin and had promptly started to occupy her bedroom and the neighboring one, filling them mostly with her unopened bags, just taking out enough clothes for one week into the small cupboard that was there. She had cleaned her bedroom, as it hadn't been occupied in at least a decade and even found - stole - clean sheets.

Nicholas was ignoring her totally and had banned her from the console room. Belle kept herself to the kitchen, her bedroom and the bathroom. She had decided to cook after tasting one of those white tasteless pastes he had left in the bowl he had the habit to prepare his food in, after he had taken his share.

He had yelled at her the properties of the paste when she had prepared a real meal with the ingredients of her planet, and she had yelled back that his food was the worst she had ever tasted. Since then, she had mixed the paste with a strong flavoured food and she made sure to make for two. Belle never offered Nicholas a plate but she left it in the plate like Nicholas had done. She prepared food every six hours and it was eaten one out of every four times. She even started to make him farherb infusions as a gesture of good will. Belle prided herself to be a reasonable, sensible and caring person and she would behave with that unsufferable man like she would with anyone else. She was willing to raise a peace flag and wave it at Nick.

Somehow, the kitchen had become a neutral territory in two days. The first floor belonged to Belle, Nick making rushing dashes to the bathroom and sleeping in a corner of the console room and Belle never came further down in the ship than the kitchen after she had collected her belongings.

They barely saw each other, they didn't talk, it was a cold cohabitation, but at least they weren't at each other's throat all the time.

The fourth day and the fifth day, the bowl stayed full. Belle checked the other supplies in case Nicholas had eaten something else, nothing was missing. So Belle decided to do the brave and right thing to do and go facing the dragon in his lair. Nick was facing his console, standing, leaning on the sides of the consoles, staring at the screen.

Belle stood, observing the windshield, and the view. The stars were distorded and no more little dots, but lines as they hyperspaced by them. Hundreds of those lines formed like a tunnel in which the spaceship flew. It was breathtaking, it was nothing Belle had ever seen before. She had read descriptions of this phenomenon on her tablet but it simply couldn't compare.

She must have gasped because Nick suddenly turned and looked at her. He froze when he saw her, and relaxed when he realised she wasn't looking at him. He could perfectly understand her fascination, his first hyperspace trip had been spent face glued to the windshield, taking everything in.

"Hey."

Belle started at Nick's voice and turned her attention on him.

"Hello." She answered and turned her eyes to him.

She took a good look at him and nearly did a double take. He looked terrible. He had dark bags under his eyes, he was as pale as death, thin dry lips... He needed food, water, sleep and from the smell, he badly needed a shower too.

"My god, Nicholas ! What have you done to yourself ?" She sounded shocked, and her eyes were wide.

"I worked !" He felt aggressed, and he immediately turned defensive, fists tight, shoulders up. "I've made sure our flight course was right, and I've worked on translating data from the archives ! Making sure we were good while you were lazying upstairs !"

"Lazying ? I was reading !"

"Lazying." Nick sneered.

"I beg your pardon ! I'm not the stubborn jackass who is not able to take care of himself ! I prepared food for you ! And you haven't eaten in two days ! And you need to ! And go shower !"

"Who do you think you are, exactly ?"

"Someone who has a nose !" Belle shouted at him.

"You stubborn bitchy wench !" Nicholas roared.

Belle's eyes inflamed and she strode at him. Her right hand launched itself to his face and gripped his left ear and squeezed and pulled. Nicholas yelped and Belle jerked him forward, using his ear as a leash.

He cursed from the kitchen up to the bathroom, and she let go of his ear once there, and pushed him into the shower before turning it on, and the mist changed Nick from furious into wet and murderous.

"Wash, then come eat, and then you'll sleep. The ship is fine. The flying course is fine. You are not fine. I'm not entrusting my life into your hands when you're like that"

And if the door could have been slammed, then Belle would have slammed it. She got out of the bathroom, and hit the close button on her way out. Nick heard the impact and shouted furiously.

"Do not hit the buttons ! Do not fucking touch anything !"

He was going to kill her. He was going to murder her. He was going to cut her body into small parts and scatter them into space. That girl had a death wish, it couldn't be otherwise.

He started breathing deeply to calm himself. He didn't think he could actually survive this week at this precise moment. When he was out, he was going to yell so much at her he was going to have a stroke or a heart attack at some point and that useless girl wouldn't be able to make the medbay work and he'd die from a pathetic cause, his life quest unachieved because one day he had taken a bad deal on a deserted planet in a lost corner of the galaxy. If that happened, she'd be alone, unable to fly the ship, and after eating his food, she'd starve to death. That would serve her right, for meddling in his business. It's not as if he wasn't used to long hours. He hadn't done a 70 hours work day in a long time but he obviously could manage. He didn't need her opinion, he didn't need her at all.

He started undressing himself, still furious at her behaviour. Not washing himself to antagonize her brushed his mind for a fleeting moment but he wasn't going to behave like a child and he would die before admitting it outloud but it was nice to get rid of the smell of stale sweat. He washed his clothes, soaking them in the cleaning mist and opened a little cupboard door. It was a big conduct Nick had realised he could turn into a clothes dryer. Warm air was being sent from the engines through that conduct. He had pierced the wall to built in an airproof door the size of a kitchen cupboard and had welded a grid through it so that the clothes couldn't fall into it. He put all of them there and closed the door. They would be dry in fifteen minutes.

He went back into the mist, and stroked mechanically his long hair and beard, getting them clean. He rubbed his way down his body. He was thin and small, with barely a swell of a belly, but had sinew muscles and a nervous strength to himself.

Once clean, he turned the mist off and airblowers took over, surrounding his body in warm air. He walked to the sink and brushed his teeth. As humans have spread through the galaxy, human ways of hygiene had spread with them. True, his way of showering was not human at all, but it did the job, and Nicholas was used to that.

He was feeling calmer, and tired. Looking into the mirror, he could still see exhaustion carved into his face, but at least, he could go to bed without having to change the sheets when he woke up.

He still needed to land the ship on a planet. Of course, the ship could still fly while he was sleeping, but if something went wrong, he was not there to fix it. Maybe he could even tell the girl she was allowed to go out and if she wasn't there when he woke up, he could leave and leaving her stranded there. He hoped he would dream of that.

He fetched his clothes and dressed quickly before realising the notebook in his waistcoat had been soaked when Belle had turned the mist on and then blowdried. He panicked and browsed the pages quickly. The ink had faded but had not erased. He sighed in relief, a loud phew escaping his chest. Months of notes, musings, theories about his ship, flight courses, equations, plans, inventions... had nearly been lost because of that girl. If that had happened, she would have been thrown out his spaceship at this very minute.

He strode into the corridor, down the staircase, and into the kitchen. Belle was there, and she stopped him without a word but with a glare and a plate of the white nutritive paste turned pinky by Belle adding tasty ingredients into it.

Nicholas assassinated Belle with his gaze and she murdered him with her eyes. He leant against the counter, took a spoon and ate. It tasted sugary this time. He ate in silence and cold shoulder, and put the plate into the sink, not about to wash it. She had forced him to eat, she could do the dishes.

He prepared a teapot of farherb infusion, drawing water from the tank of hot water. They spent the five minutes needed to infuse the farherb in a very incomfortable silence before he pulled out two metal mugs from a drawer and he poured the weak drink into them. He kept his in his hand and left the one intended for Belle by the kettle.

Belle crossed the kitchen, took her mug and retreated, putting the table between them, and leant her front against it not to turn her back on Nick.

As he stayed mute and stared thoughtfully down at the ground, she kept her eyes fixed onto her drink. Belle was totally lost in her thoughts and she jumped out of her skin when he spoke and dropped her mug. It bounced off the edge of the table and fell on the ground, splashing tea everywhere.

She knelt and picked it up, observing it. It was dented from the shock against the edge of the table.

"I'm sorry" she said, meaning it. Nicholas was an arrogant ass, but he had agreed to fly her and it was his things. She had no business damaging them. She also suspected he had enough griefs against her and she didn't want to add to them. She showed him the mug, and the dent in it. "I'm so sorry, but it's... it's dented but you can hardly see it."

Nick looked at her like he couldn't understand why she was all apologetic for a cup and not for everything she had done to him before.

"It's just a mug..." He replied in an impatient voice.

She looked relieved, and straightened to put the dented mug on the table. He stared at her interrogatively for a moment before he restarted his sentence.

"We need to land on a planet."

"Is there a problem ?"

He looked at Belle as if she was an idiot.

"Didn't you want me to nap ?" His tone suggested the exact same thing.

Belle frowned a little and forced herself to stay calm. "Yes, I did."

"Then I can't fly the spaceship and sleep in the same time."

An insult targetting Belle's intelligence was hidden in Nick's voice, it was not said but they both heard it clearly.

"I thought it could fly itself. Something called autopilot." She countered.

"_She_ can autopilot." He answered with a big emphasis on the gender of the spaceship and no hint of explaination as to why it wouldn't happen. "We're still stopping."

Nick collected Belle's mug on the table put it and his empty one in the sink by his plate. He made his way to the corridor leading to the bridge, but stopped by Belle. He looked into her eyes, then leant a little, invading her personal space.

"Clean your mess."

Belle didn't give the pleasure of a reaction, and waited he had left the room before doing the dishes and sponging the floor.

She felt a deep trembling and fell to her knees. She hurriedly grabbed the kitchen counter. She held on for dear life, trying to prevent herself from falling or being sent against the table or the wall.

"NICHOLAS ?" She yelled, thinking they were going to crash or they were attacked and she was properly terrified.

No answer, but she could hear the engines revving, changing their rythmns, they were going slowlier too. As the flight softened, she dashed into the cockpit, finding Von Stiltskin peacefully sat in his armchair, observing variables on the screens attached to the armchair's arms. The spaceship was flying over a vast expanse of dark green water.

"Nicholas ? What's going on ?"

"Oh Belle. We pierced this planet's atmosphear. Everything's fine."

"No, everything is not fine. I thought we were attacked !"

"We're not. Just landing the ship."

"Next time, warn me, I nearly fell."

Nick glanced at uninterestingly at Belle, then back at the screens. "Next time, sit down. You have a cabin and there's a seat here."

He pointed at the copilot chair without even looking and Belle breathed deeply to keep calm. She answered in a deceptively soft voice.

"Next time, Nicholas, just warn me before going into atmosphear and I'll make sure to sit down"

"Hmm hmm" He answered distractedly.

Belle glared at Nick's profile and went to sit down on the copilot's chair. She looked out and realised what they were flying above and her face filled with wonder.

"Never seen that much water, Belle ?"

Nick's soft voice pulled her out of her amazement.

"No... I've heard it existed and seen pictures but I never thought I'd see it for real."

Belle didn't see Nicholas giving a little fleeting smile which disappeared almost as soon as it appeared. He didn't understand his reactions to her. She infuriated him, and he was still angry at her, but when faced to the choice of a planet where to land, he had selected one with an ocean because she had never seen one.

Nicholas lowered the flight till it almost brushed against the surface of the water. The shield parted the ocean under the spaceship and sending splashes behind them and Belle grinned in joy. Soon a beach appeared and Nicholas landed the ship, parallel to the water front.

He locked everything, put every outdoor alarms and glanced at Belle.

"I assume you will not stay in your cabin, even if I ask ?"

"You assume correctly."

Nick's lips tightened for a second but he didn't activate the indoor alarms.

"I'm off to sleep. Do not go outside. The doors alarms are activated. If you try, there'll be hell to pay. Do not touch any buttons but the door ones. If you do, I will skin you for your pelt."

Belle rolled her eyes but nodded her agreement. Nicholas escorted her back to her cabin, and glared at her one last time before closing her door and retreating into his bedroom.

He laid down in his bunk, covering himself for his first real sleep since Belle got on board. He was lying on his front, nuzzling his pillow and breathing into it, surprised himself thinking her scent had evaporated. But he was falling asleep and this last thought didn't register.

Belle waited fifteen minutes for Nick to sleep, and she got out. That was the first time she was unsupervised in the ship, without Nicholas' huge glooming shadow, ready to murder her if she did something he didn't like. She walked around, and noticed a narrow staircase leading to the ceiling. Looking closely, she saw a hatch and the door button wasn't glowing any colour. She walked up the stairs and tried opening the door but it didn't work. Maybe it was broken, but considering how much time Nick spent making sure the ship was working properly, she suspected a voluntary seal of the door. It meant there may be another floor Nick had condamned. More rooms ? Maybe. She'd ask later.

She turned around and went into the kitchen, observing the ship itself. The inside was stern, dark, and looking at it in a closer way, it was dirty. Actually, the place was filfthy. There was grease stains and dust on the dark metal walls.

Cleaning the spaceship crossed her mind, but she decided against it, as she didn't have any cleaning products, and she didn't want to risk pressing a button unpurposely. Nicholas seemed about to have an anxiety attack each time she opened a door, so dusting around would be out of the question. Belle had read all the books she had brought on board, and as they weren't in a headcity or close to one, she couldn't buy some new ones on her tablet. However... The kitchen was in her boundaries and she could take care of it.

She reordered everythings : transfered mugs from drawer to cupboard, moved the cutlery from shelves into a little basket she put in the drawer vacated by the mugs. She separated and ordered the spices and aromas by alphabetical order, and put together the stashes of white powder used to make the Paste. Somehow, it had now an official name : the Paste, with a capital P.

She proceeded to dust and remove the grease from the counters... Obviously Nick was a genius with everything enginy but total crap at everything requiring more than technical knowledge. She rolled her eyes at this typical maleness.

Flout was looking at his scanners. That was a job he took very seriously, despite a history of letting go of some preys. He just needed some drops in his eyes from time to time, and that was the moment spaceships chose to fly by his radar antennas. It was a medical problem. The Roggers was a Spaceship with a human atmosphear and Flout wasn't really human. He had eyes like a fly's, three fingered hands, and a body thin like a human skeletton but black-coloured and reflecting light in dark multiple colours like a beetle, and covered in little hairs that were able to feel the air around. For this reason, he hated clothes. They were not natural. He wore only shorts, the Captain forcing him to. It's not as if it was needed to hide his genitals, they were not put on the outside of his body. His own planet was very humid and the ship was too dry for his eyes health. He needed drops, and he needed them often.

His eyes were currently tired, stinging from the too warm air. There was silence around, it was heavy and Flout knew that he needed to find a prey quickly. His medical condition had caused his shipmates to miss attacking a rich Venussian merchant spaceship. That day hadn't been good. The Captain had not been happy that day, and Flout's back was still hurting from the Captain tearing his hairs off his back.

A golden dot appeared on the scanner, and Flout's eyes widened, and his bugsy mouth widened in a grin, letting mandibles appear. Finally, a prey... There was a lot of magitrion particles left behind. It meant lots of engine power, and lots of engine power were generally required for heavy ships, which were heavy because of heavy marchandises.

Flout grabbed the phone next to him and speed dialed the Captain's cabin.

"Captain ? Flout here. We have a customer here."

Flout's hairs tensed, and he gave a full body shiver at the Captain's low cruel chuckle.

Nicholas emerged from sleep. His mouth was like full of cotton, bit dizzy. His eyes opened slowly, the comforting dark metal meeting his eyesight. He smiled lazily, stroking his beard into the pillow. He stretched, feeling rested for once. This feeling of bliss lasted about ten seconds before he froze as he remembered a little fact that was synonym of troubles. Belle. Fuck.

He jumped on his feet but as his legs were entangled in the sheets, he fell on the floor, left leg tied up.

"FOR FUCK SAKE ! BLOODY FUCKING HELL !"

He rolled on the floor, and sat up and eased his left foot out of the beddings. He got up, and stroked his Tshirt to ease the wrinkles, before putting his waistcoat on. He startled when he realised what he was doing and he frowned, ready to go and check if she had done any damages to his Baby. He stroked the wall lovingly.

"Hey... If she touched you, I'm going to kill her."

He straightened and opened his door. He peeked into the corridor, left and right and saw no one. Hmmm... Maybe she was in her bedroom ? Somehow he didn't think so, but he went to check, just in case. He knocked on her door twice and waited. Indeed, of course, she wasn't. This meant... She could have gone to the bridge. He shuddered. He strode through the corridors, down the staircase, and entered the kitchen. He saw her sitting there, on a chair, reading on her tablet.

Nick sighed and Belle looked up at him.

"Hello Nicholas." She smiled. "I hope you feel better."

Von Stiltskin slowly spun around Belle, looking everywhere. Something was different. He couldn't tell what yet, but something was different.

Belle continued. "I made a pot of farherb." She advanced a mug of farherb toward him, keeping the dented one for herself.

"Something has changed..."

Belle grinned privately, happy her hours of work had been noticed.

Nicholas suddenly glared... "It's clean. It is clean."

Belle nodded gleefully. "Yes ! I've cleaned ! I'm glad you've noticed."

Nick narrowed his eyes, expected a catch, actually surprised she had done something good for his Baby.

"Well..."

Belle had expected Nick to thank her but from his behaviour, he wasn't going to. He took the mug of farherb and sipped it. He looked into it, then nodded and drank it. He observed Belle, and tilted his head, before holding out the hand with the mug toward the exit.

"Do you want to go outside and see the ocean ? You can even wet your feet if you dry them before coming back in."

Belle looked amazed then her face lit up with a huge smile.

Nick felt this smile like a punch in his stomach and took a step backward.

"Oh Nicholas, this is wonderful, thank you !"

She looked about to hug him and he actually circled around the table not to tempt her, grabbed a cloth and threw it on the table before her.

"To dry your feet." He explained quickly.

Von Stiltskin drank the mug bottom up, burning his mouth from tongue to the back of her throat.

"Let's go."

He retreated into the cockpit and deactivated the alarms, and took the remote control of the ship. It looked like a game controler with a little screen, and Nick had configured it to control the alarms, the hatch, and the warming up of the engines, amongst other things. It was easier as he was alone and for emergency exits.

He opened the hatch to make sure the remote was working. It did. Without waiting for Belle, he got out, and regretted his sunglasses. He needed to buy new ones. This planet would be considered by humans as a paradise. Warm ocean, sun, beaches all around... It was like a nightmare to him but Belle had cleaned Baby, and for this, she deserved a reward. Hence the staying here a bit more. Alone, Nick would already be back into space. He hated sunny planets, the luminosity was way too high and aggressive.

His data on the spaceship had indicated the water was safe, but the plants were toxic to humans. As long as they didn't touch the plants, they were fine.

He waited, and Belle finally appeared, holding the cloth. She had changed. She had mostly kept to her pratical clothes but over the last ten minutes... She had done a little cutting to fit the planet's weather. She had removed her vest and cut her tunic's sleeves. He had not noticed her tunic was that fit and he refused to give that fact more than this thought.

He looked at the sea and the sun reflecting on the water blinded him. He rubbed his index and thumb to his eyes and down the bridge of his nose.

Belle stood by him.

"How does it work ?" She asked.

"What ?"

"The water... How does it work?"

He looked at her questionningly but answered. "You just walk in, dearie. Don't breathe the water in, don't drink it. It must not enter your body by your face in any way. But you just wet your feet, k ?"

Belle nodded frantically. "Can I go ?"

"Yeah sure. Remove your shoes first."

She obeyed and ran toward the water, all happy. Nick watched as she stopped just by the water, a little frozen. She observed it and touched it with her toe. The water covered it with the next wave and she grinned. She turned to Nick for a second to grin at him and she walked bravely into the ocean up to her ankles.

Nicholas felt as if he had been punched again. He should stop giving her reasons to smile-punch him, he was not a masochist. He watched the surroundings as Belle walked along the shore, and seeing no immediate danger, he tried to relax but he found out he couldn't.

The Captain had discreetely followed the ship embodied by the golden dot on Flout's scanner thanks to the magitrion particles it left behind.

It led them to a peaceful planet, on the side of the planet the furthest away from the headcity. This planet was used as a holidays destination by a lot of people from a lot of planets.

It had landed on a beach. The captain grinned and laughed internately. These people were asking to be robbed. Landing so far away from civilization, alone obviously. He had ruled out a merchant ship, it made no sense for one to land there. Maybe rich people with their crew wanting privacy... honeymooning ? Good good... Riches and credits were even better than marchandises to be sold. The Captain was not a difficult man considering preys, but he preferred things he didn't have to make an effort with. Money and jewels were his favorite. He fingered his rings with a grin.

A crewman knocked on the door of the Captain's office.

"Captain ?" He spoke from the corridor. He didn't want to risk his ire. "We have a visual on the ship. We are just above it, and the invisibility shields are on, Sir. It shouldn't be able to pinpoint us. We can see a woman walking along the beach, while a man is observing her. No other signs of life, unlike the ship has cold shield, which we couldn't figure out. It is an unknown ship, Sir. The datas couldn't identify its class, or the planet it's from. I'm sorry about this, Sir."

The crewman sounded terrified, but the Captain inside merely grinned. It was... a mystery. He liked mysteries. It meant things to dissect, people to interrogate and to torture if the provided answers weren't satisfactory... He'd probably find interesting items into that ship, he could dismantle it and sell into separate pieces ? Into collections, maybe. He grinned, and rubbed his hands together with glee.

"Prepare the attack, Mr Holden. We're going down !" The Captain exclaimed.

He laughed and strapped his weapons. He was going down himself this time. It was going to be so much fun.

Nicholas didn't see the scanner screens alerting of the pirate ship as he was outside, observing Belle walking, more like making sure she didn't screw up an entire ecosystem, actually.

It was a surprise when the pirate spaceship arrived from the forest side, in their back. It flew over them with barely a sound, and opened fire on Baby. The shields glinted gold with every blast from the shooting.

Nicholas jumped down under cover of the shield, the sand cushioning his fall. He rolled on his belly, looking for Belle instinctively. The girl had done like him and had jumped. Up in the sky, the pirate ship was doing a U-turn and was about to attack them again.

"BELLE !"

She glanced at him and he gestured at her to come.

"RUN ! COME HERE !"

She jumped to her feet and started running toward him.

Nick used the remote control to open the hatch and start the engines. He shoved it in his pocket and looked up. He realised with horror she was not going to make it before the other ship had another go at her.

Before he realised what he was doing, he was running toward Belle full speed, and he tackled her. His shoulder connected full speed and strength into her abdomen and Belle went from running the fastest she could to flying backward in less than a second. The sand absorbed a little bit of the impact their body made. Nick had wrapped his arms around her and they rolled together on the sand.

Behind them, a huge explosion sent sand on them and Nick jumped to his feet. He was not much, but he was standing between Belle and the ship. It was already turning around to come back at them.

"Belle, you've got to get up."

Belle was on her back, holding her hands as they had been before Nicholas got up, poised on his shoulders. She couldn't breathe.

"Belle, get up !" The man above her insisted.

She couldn't get up, she just couldn't.

Suddenly, she felt herself jerked up to her feet. Nick had picked her up, and started running toward his spaceship, dragging Belle forward.

They entered the shields protection just as a laser shot fell behind them. They were protected from the blast but not from the sand. Nick didn't let Belle fall, he pulled her toward the hatch and inside.

He dropped her then, leaving her in the storage and he ran to the bridge, launched himself on the piloting console, and boosted the shields to their maximum, decreasing the weapons power. Nicholas had faced pirates before, and generally, those ships were armed to the teeth, full of evil murderous people wanted on numerous planets, and quite fast. His survival rules to survive them were "shields up and flee"

He closed the hatch, and pushed the engines to their maximum. The spaceship took off brutally forward, escaping laser shots, and Nicholas flew up full speed toward the atmosphear layer.

The turbulences were horrible, Nicholas got nearly thrown away from the console. Atmosphear layer breaks weren't supposed to be that fast. A ship was supposed to press against the layer till it gently popped open. At the speed they were going, Nick's spaceship would tear it through. Too much of it and a planet wouldn't be protected enough from solar winds and could die.

Von Stiltskin held on to the console as tight as he could. In the storage area, Belle had huddled between two fastened boxes and was trying not to hit them.

Nicholas' ship burst into space, dark space replacing bright sun in not even a second, and Nick activated hyperspace.

The pirate ship appeared in space following Nick's hole.

The Captain growled. His prey had gone into hyperspace. He hated that. He had thought that those two were tourists and they were not. He swore to himself he was going to find them again and revenge himself.

"Mr Holden, do we have the picture of that ship ?"

"Yes, Sir, we do."

But for the time being, they had marchandise to sell.

Von Stiltskin put the ship back into autopilot and observed the scanners for a full minute, checking if they were followed. And from the first conclusions, they weren't. He sighed in relief.

And he remembered he was not alone on his ship.

He walked to the storage area.

"Belle ? Are you here ?"

Silence answered him.

"Belle ?" He insisted.

"I'm here."

She got up and walked, an arm around her middle. She was putting on a brave face, but from her way of standing, Nicholas could see she was hurt. He had hurt her when he had speared her.

"Oh... I didn't mean to hurt you..."

He cautiously approached her and held his hand out.

"I'm going to lead you to the medbay. I'm going to relieve your pain and see what you have, alright ?"

"Nicholas..."

They looked at each other, and Belle took Nicholas' hand. One of the corners of his mouth lifted quickly and he led her into the kitchen.

He faced the back wall of the room.

"The medbay is used as a panic room too. It opens with this."

He took the remote controler out of his pocket and showed her. He manipulated the controler and the wall slid right, letting a big bright well lit room.

Nicholas led Belle inside and made her lie down on a white translucid bench.

"Lift your tunic, I need to see your chest" he ordered.

Belle stared at him, her mouth a hard line.

"Look, Dearie, I have no care of your charms. I'm trying to heal you, so if you don't want to be healed, well fuck off and stay in pain."

Nick made to leave but Belle's voice made him stop.

"I'm sorry, Nicholas" She said in a contrite tone. "It's just... Thank you for saving my life."

"I hurt you."

"You still saved my life. They could have killed us and I imagine it would have been worse if those men had captured us alive."

"Definitely. I'm going to run a diagnosis now. It should be painless. Lift your tshirt."

Belle lifted her tunic, showing him her ribs were sporting bruises already. Von Stiltskin looked at her.

"I think they're cracked." He said. "Relax."

He turned and grabbed a long thin grey item. He held her above Belle and pressed the tip of it. A purple light bathed Belle and a screen lit up in the wall facing Nick, drawing her figure in yellow. Purple areas of various saturation appeared around her middle, but her arms and legs were mainly yellow.

He explained. "The more intense the purple, the more damage."

Signs that made no sense to Belle appeared on the screen.

"Your ribs are cracked, Dearie." He looked at her, looking bothered. "At least you're alive."

Nicholas walked around Belle and she grabbed him by the white Tshirt sleeve, forcing him to stop.

"Don't blame yourself, Nicholas. You did nothing wrong."

"I do not. You are alive, that's what matters in the end."

Nicholas went to a smallish console.

"Do not panic" He ordered.

Of course, Belle started to worry. "What do you mean 'do not panic' ?"

She yelped from surprise and then from pain when the table underneath her moved, and curved itself around her to become a bathtub. As it did, Nicholas talked, trying to make his voice soothing but it came out impatient.

"You will be covered in a medical gel. This will make you sleep and will relieve your pain. In 50 hours, you will awaken and you will be healed."

"But... won't it kill me? If I cannot breathe-"

"No. It will see to your many needs, Dearie. Relax. I've done it numerous times. You won't feel time pass."

"Nicholas, it can't be, I can heal with time too-"

She sounded obviously scared.

He pressed more buttons and Belle got covered in gel, shutting her numerous protests up.

Von Stiltskin closed his eyes and enjoyed the silence. Finally. He could be reunited with his Baby in peace. She wasn't talking anymore. He was happy, he could hear the gentle and nearly silent purrs of the engine and not her unsufferable yapyapyap.

He left the medbay and locked it, knowing Belle would be safe in here. It was probably the safest place of the ship, packed in medical gel, food and even some water. There were weapons too. It was the last fortified place in case of attack. Nick suspected the ship could even be flown from there but had never found any clues proving it. It was a good thing considering that would mean bad people attacking him on his own ship.

He entered the kitchen and opened the drawer to take his mug. It was not there. The two mugs weren't there. In their stead, a basket with cutlery. What the fuck ? What happened ? He frowned. He started to open rushingly every drawers and every cupboards, seeing everything neat and tidied up and absolutely NOT as he liked and was used to. He then knew what had happened. Belle happened. Fucking Belle fucking happened. He was going to maim her. He was going to dismember her. He choked up with sudden fury and sat down heavily.

Growling like a beast at every breath, he found out the place of the mugs - with the boiler, teapot and farherb bags in the middle cupboard - and made himself a teapot of it. Drinking it calmed him down a little, but he was so angry... He didn't remember being that angry at one particular person, but that girl who thought she could mess with his things was.. infuriating. He didn't think a word existed for how annoying she was.

He forced himself to a ten minutes respite before getting up and striding in his cockpit. He had work to do. He wanted to know if he had any information on this pirate ship who attacked them in his data and add to it if they had, or create it if they didn't have anything on it.

If the cameras had taken a good picture of it, Nicholas could add it the surveillance system for the ship to notify him in case it came again on her scanners.

And so, he worked.

Fifty hours later, Nicholas found himself watching the medigel emptying itself from the gel. Belle was frozen, then she animated.

"-And I refuse to be choked into weird substance !" She exclaimed.

Nicholas smirked mockingly at Belle finishing her sentence started fifty hours before. She saw that smirk and snapped. "What are you smirking at ?"

She blushed at little at having been so aggressive, but kept on glaring at Nick.

He answered, really enjoying the moment.

"Tell me, Dearie, how are your ribs ?"

"My ribs are cracked, you beast !"

Nicholas cocked an eyebrow. "You mean they were cracked... They were cracked fifty hours ago."

Belle looked down at her tshirt and jerked it up to checked them, treating Nicholas to a good eyeful of a marchlandsian bra. He looked away, a faint redness on his cheeks.

Belle pressed her ribcage and looked at him, looking betrayed.

"They're healed."

"Yes they are."

"You have... turned this thing on without me allowing you."

"Indeed I have."

Her voice colored with deep anger.

"Who do you think you are ? Who allowed you to decide for me ?" She rose inside the tub, and got out of it, pissed off. "You may have saved my life, but it doesn't mean I have to spend my life obeying you or being your slave ! I don't know if it's like that on your planet, but on mine, a thank you is enough !"

"Will you be silent !"

"No !" Belle advanced on him, leaning forward aggressively. "You have no right to decide my fate ! No one decides my fate but me, understood ?"

"Sometimes, you have to take charge. I did. You had no choice, you were going to undergo it anyway, and I saved you the yelling and me having to hear it."

"Hear me well, DocteurNicholasVonStiltskin. This is the last time you make a decision for me."

Nicholas chuckled and circled Belle.

"Yeah sure..." He walked to the door and turned to her. "In space, the one who knows best is in charge. Right now, I know best." He turned to leave, then turned back to Belle. "I just spent 30 hours being pissed off at you for messing with my kitchen organisation. If your healing had taken less than 30 hours, right now, you'd be back into medigel because I'd have maimed you. So don't touch anything ever again without my authorization, or you'll be sorry. Agreed ? And since you messed everything up in my kitchen, you'll keep taking care of it."

Belle opened her mouth to answer but couldn't because Nicholas left the room.

She followed him into the kitchen and froze when she saw a meal waiting for her, a real meal, with meat and vegetables from her planet. Last time she had attempted that, he had yelled at her for wasting provisions, and now he had done the same. There was also a farherb infusion in the intact mug. Belle frowned. She couldn't understand this man for the life of her. He practically ripped her a new one but the man cooked for her.

She sat and ate. She could hear her host moving around in the bridge room. It was badly cooked, way too overdone, and the taste was buried under the salt. She decided now and then Doctor Nicholas Von Stiltskin was excluded from the kitchen from now on. She wondered how the man didn't die of dehydratation if he ate that much salt at every meal. But he had cooked it for her and despite the man being just a sorry excuse of a human being, she couldn't deny he kept an eye out for her. Probably because of the deal with her father, but he still did.

She ate quickly, drinking more than her ration of water - he had explained she could have four a day - because it was that salty. She couldn't understand how someone could miss a dish that much. It couldn't be. Yet it was.

She finished eating and made the dishes quickly. She saw Nicholas had kept her organisation in the cupboards and grinned privately. Of course hers was better, but he would have prefered getting his teeth pulled out rather than admit it.

Belle joined Nicholas in the cockpit. He was standing by a console, reading a text made of those strange signs she had seen on the wall of the medbay. She observed his lean body, her eyes brushing the back of his longish hair, of his clothes, his ass - which was quite nice - his legs encased in that weird blue trousers, and black shoes.

"Thank you for the meal, Nicholas."

He turned at her and examined her, trying to determine if there was any mocking in her behaviour. After a minute, he nodded slowly.

"You're welcome" he replied.

Belle grinned at him. "When are we arriving in Avonlea ?"

"We should be arriving in five or six hours."

"Wonderful !"

Her smile got bigger, if anything, and Nick looked away before saying in a gruff voice. "You need to pack a bag with the things you need for a stay of two or three days. I have to find a buyer for the elkium your father gave me, and I'm not letting you stay in the ship. I know someone who will give you shelter while I'm busy. He might make you work to earn your keep, or not." He shrugged. "Who knows ?" Nicholas pinched the bridge of her nose. "Take also the time to find a planet on which you want to live, and this should be our next stop, provided I find a buyer, of course. Maybe... we'll go to Amalia, if we don't. you should like it."

"What is this planet ?" She asked.

"Hell."

She looked at Nick, quite confused. "What do you mean ?"

"It's.. a shopping center the size of a planet." He replied with a sigh. He stroked his brow and rubbed his fingers against his eyeballs.

"A shopping center the size of a planet..?" Belle asked, her eyes growing wide.

"Yeah. It's a place with lots of merchants."

"I know what a shopping center is, Nicholas !"

Nicholas just glared at her in answer and she lited her eyebrows at her.

"There was one in my planet's headcity."

Nick nodded in acknowledgement. "Go prepare." He concluded in a tired voice. "Just go, I've got things to do and I don't want you looking over my shoulder."

"Fine." Her nostrils flared and she turned on her heels, leaving the room.

Nick sat on the captain chair, checking the course of Baby for at least the fiftieth time in the last twenty minutes. It was perfect, like all the previous times. A migraine was developping and he rubbed his temples. He closed his eyes, and reopened them, sucking up his pain.

Avonlea was a big planet. It was the center of the corner of the universe it was in. Everybody had heard of it, everyone travelling in spaceship was bound to got there. It was an Empire planet, turned to trading. It was a rich world, covered in shops, industries, and factories. There was work for everyone from manufacturers to sellers, from people renting rooms to people building flats.

The industries were more on the south side of the planets while the shops and restaurants were on the northern hemisphere.

As usual, there was a trafic jam at landing in every Avonlea's spaceports. So many people wanted to go there that jams were a everyday thing. Nick was used to land in spacesport 24, one situated on the outskirts of one of the numerous residential zones. An area made of flats built upon shops, narrow streets full of street vendors, selling food and drinks, and housewares. There was people and things everywhere...

Nicholas never really felt at ease around people, so being on Avonlea was a struggle but there was so many people it was easy to hide and blend in. There was no Empire Forcemen - the equivalent of policemen on Earth - numerous enough to control the entire population of Avonlea. Hiding in Avonlea was like hiding in the back of a beast, close enough to strike, close enough to be killed, but with the advantage of surprising because the strike came from its blind side.

And so started the wait to entering Avonlea's atmosphear. Avonlea's ozone layer had started to desintegrate until the Empire decided to preserve it. They set up premanufactured holes for spaceships. Now people wanting to go onto Avonlea had to queue to go through those holes and land on spaceports.

The audiocom crept up.

"Here is Avonlea's spaceport 24, please ID yourself."

Nicholas pressed the button of the audiocom to answer.

"Here is the HMS Baelfire, belonging to Nicholas Von Stiltskin."

"State your business here and how long will your stay last, please."

"I'm coming to sell riches. I will stay for three days"

"Are you an official trader listed on the Empire lists ?"

"Yes I am" Nicholas replied. "My trading number authorization is G7278K2253694."

A silence fell while the officials from spaceport 24 checked the numbers. Nick was used to this procedure.

"Very well. You are allowed to land on landing spot 5968M. Your waiting time is evaluated to 3 hours."

"Perfect, thank you."

One might say anything about Empress Illsmerg but her officials were efficient as hell. In three hours, they would be landed. In four hours, he'd be in his favorite place on planetside, nursing what would hopefully taste like a decent drink and Belle would be out of his hair for three lovely days. He just couldn't wait.

He leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile on his lips, and his migraine started to leave.

Von Stiltskin nicked a little chunk of the elkium, to show eventual customers an extract of what he had to offer. He wrapped it in a little cloth and stuffed it in a messenger bag he had, with what he needed for a three days stay, and the remote control. Then he waited for Belle.

In the end, and out of patience, Nicholas called Belle out. She had spent the last three hours preparing herself. She had packed, of course, her tablet enabling her to read, clothes for warm weather and for cold weather, some dry food, and a bottle of water. Then she had taken a shower, and clothed herself like she had seen in pictures of Avonlea : a red tunic and white trousers. She put her leather boots and a belt. She was tempted to take her knife, but weapons weren't allowed on Empire Planets.

They exited the ship, they were parked in spot 5968M as said a placard in front of the ship and painted on the floor.

Spaceports were all the same : a huge building, half buried, half in the air, with a huge amount of floors, to be able to park all the spaceships arriving onto Avonlea.

The 1225 spaceports of Avonlea were all organised in hives, with an enormous hall and numerous exits.

A control tower handled all the flights in and out. To be able to park in a spaceport, a free spot was needed. That's why the spaceport needed to know how long the ship would be parked. When needed to stay longer, the spaceport needed to be the first warned. And of course, rich persons and Empire administrations had private spaceports.

Nick grabbed Belle's bag and hoiled it on his shoulder.

"Ready ?"

She nodded happily. "Yes Nicholas. Where are we going ?"

"Surprise." He smiled at her gently. "I am going to look for buyers for the elkium your father gave me. You are going to stay with an acquaintance of mine. I need you out of my hair for this."

"Are you saying I would bother you ?"

"Yes, Belle, that's what I'm are not known on Avonlea and it will be more difficult with you here."

Belle seemed to think about it for a few seconds. "It makes sense. Very well. Can't I stay here ?"

Nicholas froze and glared at her. "Certainly not. Last time, you messed up my kitchen."

He pushed her shoulder forward. "Move forward, girl."

She snarled at him. "Calm down."

"I am very calm, Belle. Just walk."

Belle walked, Nicholas just by her shoulder, holding her bag.

"We're going to take a shuttle to the area we need to go." He explained. "I'll take you to the place you'll stay in and then I'll be on my way. You have three days to decide where you want to go, and once the elkium is sold, I'll take you there."

Belle nodded. "Is there a place I can buy books from ?"

"It's very likely. There's a saying 'If you can't find it on Avonlea, you cannot find it anywhere'. Unless you're me, of course." Nick grinned very smugly at Belle and she rolled her eyes at him. He continued. "You need credits. Do you have them ?"

"Yes"

"Good. You need to convert them into a limited credits card, it'll be easier. Instead of carrying material money, you have a card. Empire planets all use them and even some of the outter edge ones." He shrugged. "Easier this way, and my acquaintance will help you. You could stay on Avonlea, if you want."

"Maybe" She answered, shrugging too. "We shall see."

The shuttle was a flying bus. There was also trains and taxis on this planet.

There was lots of people inside the shuttle. Nick looked very uncomfortable and stressed, a tight hand around his messenger bag and another around the strap of Belle's backbag. She looked round, very curiously. If she was scared, it didn't show. She seemed interested in everything, people on the shuttle, humans and non humans ; by the windows, the huge commercial placards, and screens showing governement shows and news, the long queues of planetships stuck in traffic jams, and down on the planet, people running fast, or hanging out.

Belle had never seen so many people at once and she didn't think that many people could fit on a planet all together. She felt lost. She felt tiny. She pressed herself closer to Nick unconsciouly, because despite the fact he was a bastard, he was also the only person she knew.

Nick searched her eyes, bending at the knees to capture her gaze with his.

"Are you alright ?"

She looked at him, and nodded briefly. "It's a little... Overwhelming."

"I can understand. Lots of people".

Observing him, Belle could see Nick was stressed too and she realised he was as nervous as her, and probably as unused to that much people as she was. She smiled gently at him, and touched his hand, the one holding the strap of her backbag. He froze, and leaned backward a little, then forward, then backward again, before turning around to force Belle to let go of him.

She frowned, it was barely a frown, just a second, but Nick saw it and looked down, face closed. Belle realised she had made a mistake and tried to correct it.

"We're going to help each other."

But it was too late, his defenses were back up.

"No, Dearie. You're going to kill time while I'm going to do business and we'll leave. That's what we're going to do."

The rest of the shuttle travel was spent in uncomfortable silence, Nick being totally closed off, looking away, eyes lost. Belle was uneasy, trying to catch his eyes, but when she did, he was so inside his mind it was looking at a void. She still kept close to him, trying not to feel scared, but still feeling in this very moment, the loneliest person in the galaxy.

Nicholas led her off the shuttle and into area 112 of planet Avonlea. It was full of people, a mass of buildings, piled up upon one another, shops over shops over pubs...

Stalls, and street vendors overpiled in the middle of the overcrowded roads.

Belle grabbed the backbag strap that wasn't around Nick's shoulder and she followed him, as he slid easily throughout the crowd. He didn't look at ease at all, but he was making his way around with the ease born from years of familiarity. She noticed he crept up close to the walls, never really meddling into the crowd but circling them. His eyes were looking everywhere as if looking for signs of an eventual attack.

Nicholas led Belle suddenly on the left and they entered an establishment. The door opened on a big room full of tables. People were sat eating, drinking, chatting. The rumble was deafening. Behind the bar counter, a pale red human-like being was sat, laughing with customers, a foamy green drink in his hand, a tall cap on his head.

Nicholas walked straight toward this being, and Belle was left to follow him or stay in the doorway. She hurried after him.

"Jeff" Nicholas said sharply, not caring if he was cutting into the conversation.

The red humanoid looked at Nicholas.

"Nick." He had a quick grin exposing fangs for Von Stiltskin and his yellow eyes turned to Belle. "And who's this cute lady you bring here ?" He winked seductively. "Hello there."

Belle spun around Nick and held her arm out for Jeff to shake. Jeff shook her arm politely and quite flirtily.

"I am Belle."

"Oh my you're cute. I'm Jeff Herson, the owner of this bar."

"Nice to meet you."

Herson grinned at Nick and then at Belle again. "Same, darling, same. Tell me, Nick... I assume this is not a social visit."

"No indeed, it is not." Nicholas answered, a corner of his mouth drawn out in a humorless smile.

"It never is." Jeff chuckled dryly, then he looked around suspiciously. "Come with me." He turned to a tall muscled human serving drinks to customers at the other end of the counter. "Aston ! I'm going behind. This guy says he sells things of interest for a bar. Keep the house"

The young man nodded at Jeff from his spot, serving a four-armed woman, then turned back to take another order.

Herson turned back to Von Stiltskin and Belle and gestured with his head to follow him. Nick followed Herson and signaled at Belle to follow them with his hand.

She was looking a bit confused, not really knowing what to expect. Was it the place where Nick meant for her to stay ? It was... not a healthy place. There was alcohol flowing and she was sure she had seen in the back of the room people fondling each other.

Jeff, Von Stiltskin and Belle went into a small backroom which once closed was soundproof and had a wall of screens displaying the bar room from nearly every angles and even the outside perimeter of the building.

Belle looked at them and realised she had seen well, there was some people making out in the darkest part of the bar.

There was a table with five chairs in the middle of the room, and the men sat down. Nick put the bags down at his feet. Belle stayed up, not really knowing what to do. Seeing that, Nick pulled out the chair next to him, and Belle sat down wordlessly.

Jeff observed them for a full minute, and winked at Belle again.

"Sooo..." He grinned at Belle and at Nick, showing his fangs fully. He fingered his hat. "What's with the girl, Nick ? You bought a girl from a slavery ?"

Belle scoffed, outraged and Von Stiltskin moved awkwardly in his chair.

"No." He said rushingly, not about to let Belle open up and rip up a new one to Jeff. "She's under my protection for the time being. I need a place for her to stay for three days."

"I see..." Jeff tilted his head. "You let her up on the Baelfire ?"

Nick's answer was to glare.

"My.. my..." Herson continued. "You cert-"

Nicholas cut in. "Can you shelter her ?"

Jeff nodded. "It can happen... She can give a hand to Aston if she's up to it. I need a new barmaid."

Belle raised her hands, in a 'hey hello I'm existing' motion and exclaimed "What if I don't want to do that ?"

"Then you're welcome to walk out and live in the gutter" Jeff answered.

Belle huffed and glared at Nick. He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling his headache raising again.

"Look, Belle, it's three days. Jeff, do not work her to the bone. I have information about your wife and daughter, by the way."

Jeff turned to Nick, a sudden despair in his eyes. "Tell me."

"On the planet... I'm sorry, Jeff, your wife was on Hho, the ice prison, one year ago, but she's been transfered eleven months ago."

"Oh god..." Herson put a hand to his mouth and his eyes watered. "And my girl ?"

"No word yet. I'm sorry... I can't find a lead for her"

Jeff breathed in and out deeply several times. Belle was confused, the depth of her ignorance was scaring her, utterly terrifying her. It was unusual for her to be the least knowing. In her village, she had been the most knowledgeable people but here... She was an ignorant fool. And she couldn't take it. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears and her breath for deeper and deeper, and faster and faster, but also louder and louder.

"Belle ? Belle ! Belle !"

She looked up at Nicholas. He was looking at her expectantly, obviously wondering what the hell was happening to her.

"Calm down" he ordered. "Jeff will take you in, you can help if you want. I negociated with him while you were having your little moment."

Belle looked straight at Nick, frowning. She was angry at him, couldn't understand why he was that much of an asshole to her. She murdered him with her eyes and she promised herself the moment she got him alone, he was going to understand why being an asshole to her was a bad idea. It's not as if he couldn't relate, she had seen his behaviour out there. He must know exactly how she was feeling, and he could help her but wasn't doing anything in that goal. She didn't understand this frame of mind. If you could help someone, anyone, then help should be provided.

Nicholas got up and gave Belle her bag. He hooked the messenger bag around his body and led her back to the noisy and crowded room of the bar.

"You're leaving in three days. Stay discreete. Low profile, alright ?" Nick grinned quickly and dryly. He lowered his voice. "Be smart. Obey Jeff, he knows better than you. Survive."

"I understand."

"Very good."

He very awkwardly reached out and touched fleetingly her elbow, swallowing quickly, then he nodded at her, at Jeff and he left the bar.

Jeff was standing behind her, waiting for her to turn around to talk to her.

When she did, he smiled gently. "I know it's not easy, but we'll make it, alright ?"

"Thank you..."

"Don't mention it. I owe Nicholas. Just paying my debt. Let me introduce your coworkers. The big guy up here" He pointed at the bartender he had shouted to earlier. "This is Aston. He is human, like you. The astorian you see serving drinks over there" He pointed at a brown humanoid with a textured skin "is Vessarks. The others will be in later and I'll introduce them to you as they arrive. In the meantime, I'll take you to your room and then, Aston will teach you the ropes of bartending."

"Excuse me but I need to buy some things."

"What ?"

"Books. I need books. Tons of books. I need to understand how it works."

"How what works...?" Jeff looked totally confused.

"This world... I need books about the administration, I need to understand ! I can't stay and not know."

Jeff looked at her as if she was crazy but he slowly nodded. "Wow, he must have picked you up really far from civilization." He looked at her, bothered. "I told him I'd protect you... and give you what you need. If you need books, I'll give you books. Give me a list of what kind of books you need and I'll try to procure you. I assume you want the tablet version ?"

"I don't mind paper or tablet."

"Alright. Give me this."

Jeff took Belle's bag off her back. "I'll walk you to your room, Belle. Come with me."

She followed him up the stairs.

Nicholas had been on Avonlea for 36 hours. He had met people who had been able to introduce him to people able to afford elkium. He had been asked to bring a sample and thus he had.

The meeting was scheduled in one hour time in quite a shady part of Area 204. It was quite an industrial zone but it was full of people who didn't care about others. It was also less populated than Area 112.

Nick walked between two small factories similar to the ones all around them. His guts told him something was wrong. It was too calm. There was noone, as if the area had been emptied with magic. On Avonlea, it was wrong. He frowned, and stopped. He looked around, and seeing 3 men blocking the way from where he came, he figured the meeting had been a scam. He promised himself revenge onto the ones who had fucked him up.

He took his foldable cane out, and straightened it. He kept the handle in his hand, to be able to sheath the short blade hidden in the first bit of the stick. He clicked a tiny button hidden on a ring just under the handle and the ring fell down the stick to the bottom end. It froze there. It was a counterweight. If Nick was going to hit someone with that bit, well, it was better if it hurt.

He looked at the other end of the alley and two guys were there. They were dressed in some kind of uniform, green trousers and brown tunic. They didn't have a weapon, as they were forbidden on Empire planets. They may not have electric, magnetic or sonic weapons, but they had good old crowbars and knives.

Nicholas was as ready as he could be. He let the messenger bag drop against the wall and turned his back on it. He prefered fighting with his back against the wall to prevent someone sneaking up on him.

He looked right and left, waiting for the men to come up onto him.

They did and surrounded him. The one in the middle spoke.

"Give us your bag, and we won't hurt you much."

"Fuck off" Nick answered in a calm but deadly voice.

"I was hoping you'd refuse."

The leader gestured at the man the furthest on the left. He was a humanoid with two muscled arms and thick legs. He had no neck and he appeared bloodthirsty. This mountain of muscles was from the planet Artens, and Nick knew exactly their weak point, fortunately. He had been hunted on their planet for unpurposely killing one of them, then had tested his theory by disposing of the hunters. He had stored this precious knowledge for a rainy day. And today was one. He readied his cane, and when the Arten charged, Nicholas ducked and hit him with the cane, just under the base of his skull.

A loud crack resonated in the alley and the Arten fell dead.

Nick moved back to his previous position, hitting the other guy on the left on the way back. He fell on his back, nursing his jaw before spitting a tooth, and his head fell to the ground, knocked out.

The leader gestured at the man on his right and they both attacked him in the same time. Nicholas' surprise effect was over and he grounded his feet on the ground. The men's assault was brutal, attacking Nick on his left and right in the same time, or trying to stab him in the guts while trying to take his head off with the crowbar.

They made him move. They made him turn around, and while fighting, he showed his back to the fifth man, who had stayed away from the fight. The moment he was out of Von Stiltskin's sight, he attacked and slammed him against the wall.

Nicholas was unbalanced violently, and Crowbar guy hit him on his right arm. He dropped the cane under the hit, and the one with the knife stabbed him in the flank. Nick fell heavily, his blood tainting the pavement. He growned, clutching the wound in his hand. He curled up and stopped moving.

The three remaining men chuckled and congratulated themselves before picking up their knocked out friend and Nick's bag and left, Nicholas and the Arten's body still in the alley.

Nicholas shook his head once the voices were gone. His arms and belly hurt like a bitch and he rolled on his back. He backed himself up, and sat slowly up, pushing on his left arm and legs to help himself.

He needed to get up. He needed to follow them. He needed to get treated.

Up, stalk, cares. A plan.

He closed his eyes against the pain and kept them closed until he mentally pushed it away from his attention.

He opened his eyes, releasing a shaky breath and scanned the floor with his left hand for his cane. He felt it and grabbed it. Nick helpt himself with it to get up on his feet. He clenched his teeth, telling himself he was a tough son of a bitch who survived worse than that, and he wouldn't let thieves get away with it.

He needed to know where they were going. He needed. Because once he was better, he was going to come back and skin them alive. And pillage them too. They had stolen from him, and it wouldn't do. He followed them. He went into the direction he had heard their voices go. He had one big advantage over them : they thought him dead. They had no reason to be careful. As he joined areas with more people, he asked around who had seen three men with a messenger bag, with an unconscious man. It took some money - he always kept his wallet in his waistcoat - and time but he managed to follow them. His head was swimming, he was cold and hot but he forced himself to focus. He couldn't fail. He couldn't let those assholes defeat him.

They had docked their ship in spaceport 132, and after bribing a spaceport forceman, he got admitted into the security room and managed to track them thanks to the security cameras.

Their ship was named the Roggers and was moored in spot T6632741. He wrote it quickly on his notebook, thanked the local forcemen and exited.

Nicholas didn't think the men would leave now. From the register, they had arrived this morning for a five days stay. It didn't tell him how they got wired on him, but he'd investigate. He had five days to heal, find out who the son of a bitch who betrayed him was, and get his elkium back - and not necessarily in this order.

For now, he knew where to find them. The register mentioned the ship belonging to Barrie Pan, but Nicholas highly suspected a fake name. After all, Barrie, Pan and a ship named Roggers ? Someone was a Peter Pan fan. Some with fake IDs and fake papers. It meant knowing people high placed in the administration and lots of riches to have access to documents able to fool spaceport controls. Whoever the Captain of this ship was, he was not someone to trifle with. Von Stiltskin needed a plan.

His Tshirts were soaked with blood but it seemed it had stopped pouring out. His waistcoat hid the stairs and he had had to wash his hands several times, because he had touched to check. He didn't think his arm was broken, as he could move it a bit, but there was a chance of it being cracked.

He needed to go back to Herson, and fast. He hoped Jeff had medigel because he didn't want to go to a hospital. He didn't want an investigation on him. Assaults and theft were highly frowned upon, on Empire planets, especially on trading planets, as they needed the traders and merchants to feel safe to bring their merchandise. If they got attacked and stolen, they wouldn't want to come back. So Avonlea's forcemen would make a thorough investigation and this wouldn't do at all. He also needed to go fast before he bled out every drop of blood in it, so he took a taxi, inserting his credits card in the slot for it after several slow and desperate tries.

He was pale, nearly white. His eyes couldn't stop closing, and he had to fight to keep them barely open. He felt weak, perpetually on the verge of losing consciousness, on and off, on and off. The taxi ride wasn't helping, the engines were pleasantly purring, very regularly, and it was luring Nick to sleep. He couldn't... He couldn't... In despair, he pressed his hand in the wound in his left flank and he nearly shot awake, biting back a cry of pain.

He didn't care about bleeding on the seats as the automated taxi would sanitize and clean it after he was gone.

The taxi stopped in front of Herson's bar, the familiar noises of the crowd in it echoing outside. He painfully got out, slowly, carefully. His wound had reopened and he was bleeding once again. He bit his bottom lip and staggered forward, his collapsing weight opened the door and his body hit the nearest table.

"Fuck" he whispered.

The people sat at this table watched him with horrified eyes. Nicholas pushed himself off the table and got back on his trembling feet. He made his way to the bar counter and leant heavily on it, letting it support his weight.

The tall muscled guy Jeff had called Aston was watching him curiously, and then he shouted. "Belle ! Your guardian is back !"

"Not her.." Nick protested weakly. "Call... Jeff."

"What the hell are you thinking, bleeding all over my counter ?" Jeff had arrived just behind Nicholas. The red humanoid groaned in annoyance, and laid a gentle hand on Nick's shoulder.

"It's bad, Jeff... I'm really not feeling good."

"Alright. Aston, escort him to my office, and fetch Belle."

Herson tutted, his tongue hitting his fangs and watched Aston help Von Stiltskin walk toward the private parts of the bar. He followed, looking around to see if they had been noticed. Only the closest had paid attention, and Jeff gestured to the other barman to offer them drinks to distract them back to their drinks and chats. Thank his ancestors his bar was so noisy, full and rowdy that disruptements like that were quite common. He noticed Nicholas had dropped a little blood on the counter and he wiped it off with his sleeve and a disgusted sound. Humans could be so vile. He adjusted his hat into a dramatic tilt, clicked his teeth and leant over the bar counter to give another order to the remaining barman.

"When you see Belle, tell her to come see me in my office."

The barman nodded and went back to his work. Yes, really, Jeff Herson liked his staff a lot.

He then made his way to his office. Aston left the room.

"Ah Boss, I was going to fetch some medigel" Aston's voice was a bit hesitant, as if he didn't know if his boss planned on helping the man or letting him bleed to death and enjoy the show privately.

"Good initiative, Aston." He patted the man's shoulder with a reassuring nod and added. "Be quick."

Aston nodded back and strode to the staff rest room. He watched the promising boy go and entered his office.

Von Stiltskin was laid out on the couch, curled up, pressing a hand onto his side. He was breathing weakly.

"The medigel is coming" the bar owner said loud, in case Nick needed revival.

The human nodded weakly.

Herson walked to the couch and took off Nicholas' hand off his belly, and examined his wound.

"I do not think it has touched a vital organ. Why are you so weak ?"

Nick gulped, and closed his eyes in pain. "I.. know where... they are..."

"Don't tell me you didn't come back here straight after being attacked."

"Follow... ed.. em."

"You are an idiot, Nicholas Von Stiltskin."

Nicholas didn't answer, as he had passed out. Aston knocked and let himself in. "The medigel, Boss."

Jeff took the jar Aston was holding out to him. "Remove his clothes, Aston."

The tall man hesitated a little but complied. He was careful in his gestures, trying not to hurt Nick too much. Nicholas shivered quite a lot. His skin was clammy and warm, and his brow was burning. "I think he has a fever, Boss."

"Of course he does. He's a weak stupid idiot. He is human !" Herson concluded in a exasperated voice, as if being human justified being weak, stupid and idiot.

A knock on the door echoed in the room.

"Come in !" Jeff shouted.

Belle shyly joined them in the room, closing the door behind her.

"Oh... What has happened to him ?"

She ran to Nicholas and realised she was seeing him barechested. He was painfully thin, his right arm was so bruised it was purple, and he had a thin deep hole in his left flank.

"He was an idiot ! He got attacked and mugged and of course, instead of coming to get help and cares, this fucktard pursued them, lost nearly all his blood, made his arm worse, and nearly didn't come back ! What was so precious that he risked his life so ?"

Belle looked at Herson and shook his head no. "I do not know, Jeff."

Jeff walked to Nick. "Hold his arm out, Belle"

Belle obeyed. She lifted Nicholas' arm, and straightened it. Nick moaned in pain.

"Is it going to be alright ?" She asked.

Jeff shrugged.

Aston was watching them three, shifting on his heels awkwardly. He was not actually watching them three, he was more watching Belle than the others. "Need a hand, Belle ?" He asked gently.

Her eyes met his and she flashed him a big grin, shaking her head.

Herson rubbed medigel all around Nick's arm, making sure the medigel was thick and wide. Then it hardened into a fair blue paste and Jeff motioned at her to let go of his arm. Belle did, and watched Herson do the same to the stabbing wound.

"There. The medigel will nurse him back to health. Once he's better, he's going to wake up and the medigel will fall on its own once the wound is healed."

"But doesn't medigel work in a tub ?"

"It can. But for light wounds, it can be portable." Jeff had taken to explaining everything in details to Belle, otherwise she'd ask a thousand questions.

"What are we going to do about him now ?" She asked.

"We're going to drop him in a bedroom and he will sleep it off."

"Err Boss ? The bedrooms are all taken... A convention, I think." Aston cut in.

"Ah."

Belle echoed Herson's feeling with a nod. "He could take my bed ?" She proposed.

"Where are you going to sleep ?" Jeff asked.

"Well... I have a guest room..." Aston proposed.

Jeff looked up at Aston. The boy was smiling gently at Belle, his eyes soft and tamed. Herson grinned inwardly. Aston was more of a flirt usually, it gave great tips. He was also a partygoer, which Belle wasn't at all. This would be fun to watch.

"That would be perfect." Belle agreed and looked at Jeff. "Problem solved. Nicholas takes my bedroom, I'm going at Aston's."

She was looking mighty proud of herself. Aston was smiling wide, not believing his luck. And Jeff thought they were both too impulsive for their own good. He intervened. "Aston, carry our new guest to his bedroom."

"Yes Boss."

Aston bent his huge muscled frame and hooked Nick's arm around his neck before craddling him around the back and under the knees. He lifted the man's body easily, Nick being small and thin, almost like a child in Aston's thick arms.

Belle watched them go and as Aston walked past her, carrying Nicholas as if he was nothing, her eyes landed on the barman's ass.

She grinned. He had a gorgeous ass. Yes, Aston came really with a magnificent package.

"I'm coming with you, Aston. I need to pack."

Aston smiled widely at Belle. "Lead the way ?"

"No, you go ahead. Do not bump his head against the door ?"

"I'll try not to." The barman turned and avoided hitting Nick's head against the threshold.

Jeff shook his head but had a grin. Maybe he could do something about Aston and Belle. Nick had a really good idea to get shot, in the end.

Nicholas Von Stiltskin's eyes opened slowly. His first thoughts were full of pain. He was weak. He couldn't even lift his hand when he tried.

He needed to get up. He needed to work. He needed to go and kick some ass, and get his elkium and dignity back. He didn't let thiefs get away, neither Von Stiltskin, neither Rush did.

He just had to get his cane back, and go fetch his laser guns from his Baby. Maybe he could even send Belle. She liked to feel useful. So she'd bring his guns, and he'd go back to the spaceport and kill them all... Myeah. He'd do that... later... when...

Nicholas Von Stiltskin fainted again.

"You have a nice home, Aston !" Belle exclaimed as she entered his place. She was standing in the entry hall and it was cream coloured, with deep red vertical lines in the walls.

It was actually not that true, when she entered the living room. He had two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. It was decorated by a man. It was decorated by a hunter. She saw decapitated animals heads mounted on a wood panel and hung to the walls.

She froze a little as she saw those and she turned toward Aston.

"Yeah, I am a hunter. I haven't hunted since I'm on Avonlea, but on my planet, I used to hunt with my dad." He grinned sheepishly. "Childhood memories..." He pointed at the furthest head on the left, some kind of green boar. "My first hunt. It was the alpha male. The biggest of the pack. I shot him from afar." He suddenly had an arrogant smile. It was so different from his normal expression - polite and gentle - that Belle was surprised. "My father was so proud" Aston went on. "He carried me on his shoulders all around the village. The child girls fell at my feet and it was decided I would be a master hunter."

"But you ended up here" Belle interjected.

"Yes." Aston looked at her, hurt. "Yes, I did." He gestured at her to come with him. "I'll show you the guest room."

Belle followed him and he led her into a small room with a bed, shelves and a chair.

"There. It's not much used... But I hope it's fine."

"It is, thank you for your generosity, Aston."

She grabbed his tunic and pulled him down. He humoured her by bending, cocking his eyebrow. Belle kissed Aston's cheek gently.

"Well, it's cool."

He smiled shyly and walked backward. "Settle down... k ?"

He left the room. Belle put her bag down on the bed, opened it and carried her clothes from it to the shelves.

She heard a small music and Aston talked. That must be his phone. She had read about those on her tablet. She stroked it in her bag, letting it inside. Jeff had kept his word and had came back with thousands of digital books and had transfered them onto her tablet.

Aston knocked on her door and peeked inside.

"Hey Belle. That was Jeff. He's giving us the night off. Fancy a night out ?"

Well, Belle would rather read in bed, but Aston was nice and he was her host, so she guessed she could make a sacrifice. She nodded quickly.

"Great !" Aston grinned. "I'll introduce you to my friends, and we'll go dancing"

He left her room, closing the door behind him.

Nicholas entered Belle's thoughts, and she regretted saying yes. Nicholas was her taxi, and, despite his assholish behaviour, her protector. Aston had called him her guardian. He was right. He was the man who was supposed to protect her, in stead of and asked to by her father. She should call Jeff and ask if he was better. He was in the medigel's healing hands, and would ultimately heal but she felt bound to ask for news.

She decided she would Aston to take her out to buy a phone.

The nights on Avonlea were like the days : full of noise, crowdy. The focus of all this agitation was fun and not work anymore, though.

Pubs, nightclubs, entertainement centers and restaurants were packed. Avonlea was part of what was called the planets that never sleep.

Belle had asked Aston to take her to a phone shop and she had bought two, one for herself and one for Nicholas. They had a multiplanet suscription, so that when Belle and Nick were on other planets, they could still phone Herson and Aston.

The phones were identical, sleek and thin things, commanded by touch on the screen. They could access the webnet and even communicate via digital mails and instant messages. Belle had bought them with her money but she'll have to talk about Nick for the suscription. Her savings wouldn't last with the phone fees being taken out each months.

Aston had helpt her choose and he looked mighty proud of her. He even commented that now she had joined the normal people categories. She had tried not to feel vexed but Aston's youthful enthousiasm was contagious, and she drank his explainations about how everything worked. He had recorded his own number and Jeff's and Nick's number in Belle's phone, and only recorded the bar's and Belle's number in Nicholas'.

Then he took her out, treating her to a sandwhich stuffed with wild ferf meat, and a mead glass.

Aston's friends had joined them late at night when they were about to enter a nightclub.

Belle was objectively glad to meet new people. Aston wasn't a bad guy, he was well-mannered, a gentleman to boot, polite but... he wasn't very interesting. His interests were quite limited and he didn't seem inclined to learn others.

He liked watching and doing sports. He adored watching speedships races on TV, he liked going out and hanging out with his friends. He also liked working at the bar, and making drinks.

Unfortunately, Aston's friends were like him, with very little variations. There was Gus, a mechanic who seemed obsessed by women bodies as he promptly told Aston he had bought eight new erotic calendars for his garage. Then Cair, a non human, who worked in Gus' garage, and whose only chatting topic was how to make his ship's engine more powerful... And so on...

Belle felt like she was in another world. Aston's friends, the five of them, seemed to be single-minded males, happy in their macho world. However, Aston never forgot she was with them, and kept a secure arm around her shoulders. He didn't pay any attention to the girls winking at him. His friends, though, happily went on the dancefloor and hit off with some girls.

The music was very bouncy, made to make people dance. Aston's feet were moving to the rythmn of the music for a moment, as they stayed sat on thick cushions, watching the club.

Then, he got up and held up his hand to Belle. She hesitated then put her hand in his big one. He helpt her up and led her to the dancefloor to dance.

Nicholas opened his eyes. There was less pain than before and his mind was also clearer. He glanced at his arm. The medigel was cracked, a sign his cracked bone was almost healed. He felt the icy hard gel on his belly. Ah yeah, he had been stabbed. His left hand stroked it and he hissed a little, closing his eyes with a frown.

He forced himself to sit up and looked around. He was barechested, on a bed. He recognized the layout of one of Herson's bedrooms.

Looking through the small window, he could see the two suns of Avonlea rising.

He got up, slowly, grinding his teeth. He made his way out, staggering a little. Vessarks was out in the corridor carrying sheets.

"Oh... Please, Sir-"

"Doctor !" He barked, correcting her.

"Sir Doctor, you need to rest. Mister Herson said you needed to stay in bed."

"Fuck that."

He leant against the wall, to help him walk and he got down into the main room.

Jeff was behind the counter, handing out drinks to early risers. He opened wide angry eyes when he saw Nicholas on his feet.

"What are you doing up, Stiltskin ?"

"Give me something to drink, Herson"

Jeff huffed and deposited a mug of farherb infusion in front of the grumpy doctor.

"Oh for fuck sake, give me something stronger !"

Jeff leant over his counter, got into Von Stiltskin's face and snarled. "No alcohol when on medigel !"

A growl answered him and Nick drank the infusion unheartily.

"You shouldn't even be up" Jeff spoke after a moment.

"I have work to do."

Herson rolled his yellow eyes up. "Higher beings ! It can wait !"

"No. I have five days." He thought a moment. "Four days."

"To do what ?"

"Revenge."

Jeff sighed. He had lost sight of the fact humans could be vendicative and revengeful. He tried appeasing him.

"Look, Nicholas. I know you got mugged but violence is not the answer."

"I got stabbed. I nearly died."

"You nearly died because of your own stupidity. I know you must have taken down one of them, at least. I cleaned the blood from your cane. They stole your bag, and they left you for dead and you survived. You killed at least one. I'm not even talking of going to see the forcemen, even though they'd help you... Why not calling it even ?"

Nick looked at Jeff as if the pale red humanoid was dumb.

"No one steals from me" He answered simply.

Jeff hissed in annoyance.

"Bloody humans. You just can't stay alive. You always have to find reasons to kill each other. What have they stolen that's so precious you have to risk your life more than once for ?"

Nicholas shook his head, not wanting to answer. The least people knowing about his elkium stash, the better.

He looked around, and realised it was too calm. No chirpy voice asking endless questions.

"Where's Belle ?"

Jeff looked around as if noticing Belle wasn't there, then he shrugged.

"With Aston, I guess."

"Your barman ?"

"Yes, she gave you her own bedroom and she went to his place, as he has a guest room."

"You let her go with a man she barely knows to sleep at his place." Nick almost hissed. The 'are you stupid' look was back on his face mixed with supreme contempt.

"Don't look at me like that !" Jeff answered. "Aston is a good human, honest and straight. He won't let anything happen to her."

"He is a human man. With a girl. Alone. At night. See my point ?"

"Nothing happened."

"I asked YOU to protect her, Jeff ! Not to give her out for the night !" Nicholas was angry and it was drawing attention.

"Calm down ! I'm sure they're fine."

"If they are too fine, I will kill you. I am responsible for her life, for fuck sake ! I trusted you !"

Herson shrugged. "Look, it is done. I'm sure Aston has taken excellent care of her."

Nicholas flipped Jeff with two fingers and looked ready to retort when the topic of their arguement came in.

"Hello !"

"Hey Boss"

Aston nodded at Nicholas politely and Nick looked at Aston with the patented Scottish Doom glare. The boy looked surprised and interrogated Herson silently. His boss shrugged, rolling his eyes and gestured at his barman to go prepare. Aston turned, grinned at Belle with a wave and departed toward the backrooms.

Belle jumped on the stool next to Nick and grinned at him.

"Hello !"

He looked at her like she had two heads and one of them was about to attack him.

"Hello..."

"I'm glad to see you on your feet, Nicholas !"

In his world, no one - no one - had the right to be that cheerful in the morning.

Jeff removed his jacket and tossed it at Nicholas over the counter.

"Put that one, you undecent human."

Nicholas put it on and Jeff thanked the higher beings the human had covered himself. If forcemen had entered the bar, he could have had a fine for indecent exposure.

Belle accepted the cup of herbal tea Jeff held out to her with a thanking grin. She sipped it, examining Nicholas. He wasn't looking good. He still had shadows under his eyes, and from what she had seen, the medigel was still attached, so he wasn't healed.

"You should go back to bed and rest." She remarked.

Nick slammed the mug on the counter. "Just leave me the fuck alone, you all, for fuck sake ! You're not my fucking mother !"

Belle's eyebrows flew up and her mouth opened in surprise and hurt. Jeff glared at Nick.

"Don't you dare yell at her, you beast !"

Nicholas glared at everybody and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm out. I need to go."

He was going to kill one of them. Or both. Or the whole bar.

"You're not going out with my jacket."

Herson had just won the spot of the first one to be killed. Von Stiltskin got up, and walked slowly back to his bedroom.

Once he was out of earshot, Belle asked Jeff, fingering the rim of her cup.

"How is he ?"

He shrugged. "Still the same ass. A wound is not enough to stop him. He's not sensible."

"I see..."

She got up and followed Nicholas to her former bedroom. She knocked on the door and entered, after waiting for an eventual answer she didn't get. She wouldn't have entered but she got scared he had fainted again.

Nicholas was sat on the bed, in his white long sleeved Tshirt, about to put on the green ones. The waistcoat was wrapped on the back of the chair.

"Of course, do come in, make yourself at home, Dearie." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"This was my room before I politely gave it to you, as you were wounded !" She retorded.

Nicholas froze and looked at her, his eyes gaping at her, getting bigger and bigger.

They stared at each other for a few minutes before Nick looked down and finished putting his Tshirt up.

"You shouldn't have."

"I beg your pardon ?"

"You shouldn't have ! You should not have given me your bedroom !"

"You were wounded." Belle said pointedly, crossing her arms.

Nicholas' eyes narrowed to slits. "Was it good, last night with your boy ?"

Belle didn't answer at once, trying to assess Nick's question, trying to see where the trap was. Yes, she shopped and danced and she discovered it was funny but... Good didn't seem an appropriate word for last night.

"What are you wearing ?" He cut through her thoughts.

Belle looked down at her clothes.

"I shopped with Aston last night." She smiled happily. She was wearing a checkered reddish grey and brown skirt with a thin carved leather brown belt, with a cream colored blouse covered in black lace.

Nicholas sneered and his glare burnt with fury. "I see he took good care of you."

"Yes he did."

A growl escaped Nicholas, who didn't understand why he was so angry. Belle glared at him, confused with the reason why he was being so aggressive with her. She had given him her bedroom, she had bought him a phone, even if she hadn't given it to him yet.

Nicholas breathed deeply. He told himself this was her life and if she wanted to fuck every pretty boys heading her way, it was not his problem. His problem was keeping her healthy and flying her wherever she wanted to go.

He finished dressing, his back on Belle.

"I had something for you, idiot !" She said, her voice full of tears, and she threw something on the bed next to him ; then she turned on her heels an slammed the door as she left.

Nicholas saw a little back box with a golden and red bow on the bed. He frowned. He turned around toward the door to check if she was still here, which she wasn't. He swallowed, looking at the gift like it was a snake about to bite him.

Nick took the gift, then glanced at the door again, expecting Belle, Jeff and Aston to burst in and either take the gift back or laugh at him.

He waited a little, then opened the bow slowly. He shook the box, to hear if there was a ticking sound or any sound calling for danger, which there wasn't.

Nicholas opened the gift, surprised at seeing the sleek little phone Belle had bought him. He swallowed, nervous, wondering what she was expecting from him to offer such a gift ? Acceptance for her little trifle with Herson's golden boy ? Maybe she was nice ? No. No one in this universe could afford being nice for nothing. Maybe she wanted to stay on Avonlea but keep contact with him in case she needed another flight elsewhere ? His frown deepened, renewing his anger. Who did she think he was ?

Suddenly, a fair blue dust feel from his right sleeve, announcing that the healing of his arm was complete. He flexed, bent his arm, testing it. He grinned sternly, tasting in his mouth the blood of his enemy.

He pocketed the phone mechanically, and strode out of the room into the bar hall. His side was still hurting but the medigel had boosted his bone marrow to reconstruct the blood he had lost, and the flesh to rebuild him. Walking, he touched the medigel in his flank. He could feel the cracks under his fingerpads, through his Tshirts.

He saw Belle leaning against the bar counter. He figured being at least polite wouldn't hurt, since he still had to stand her being around him. Then he'd go and kill some thugs. He walked to her.

"Thank you." He tried bring pleasant but he just sounded forced, as if thanking her was pulling glass out of his mouth.

"For ?"

"For the phone. It's... I... I do... not..." He realised he was going to put his foot in his mouth and just shut up.

Belle's eyebrows had flown up to her hairline and she was gaping at him. Nick thought that may not be a good thing, he looked down and his eyes met her legs. She had shapely legs covered in dark stockings and her feet were hidden in low boots. He hadn't noticed it before. He had looked at her in annoyance before but objectively speaking, she really had beautiful legs.

He looked away, up and to the left and crossed Aston's murdering eyes. Nicholas gazed at Belle and told her.

"I need to go."

"I'm going with you", she announced matter of factly.

"You're not coming with me, it's too dangerous"

"Nicholas. I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. I'm coming with you."

"No."

"Nicholas. You will not tell me what to do. You are hurt, you are hot-headed. My father has always told our warriors never to seek revenge in hot blood, because hot blood means cold brain. Once there what are you going to do ?"

Nick answered immediately. "Sneak in, look for the elkium and sabotage the ship."

Belle shook her head. "I'm coming with you."

"Belle." He said sternly.

"No one decides my fate but me, DoctorNicholasVonStiltskin."

"Cut the crap and listen to the ones who know better."

Belle huffed loud and looked ready to throw something at him. Aston cut in.

"Belle, love. Please, don't go." He took her hand over the counter. "He's right. It could be dangerous. And we didn't exactly sleep last night."

Nick's nostrils flared. His appreciation of him was going lower and lower. His hand was even hitching to cane him. Brutally. Numerously. Viciously.

"Aston..." Belle protested.

Aston squeezed her hand and turned on the puppy look. She blushed, then looked at Nick, then at Aston, assessing them. Then she nodded. "Fine. I will not go."

Both Aston and Nicholas sighed in relief. Nicholas nodded and got up.

"I need to go" He repeated. "I'll try being quick."

He looked down, touched his cane in its holster and the medigel. It was even more cracked than before. It wouldn't even take long to fall. He was almost back to full health. They were going to bleed.

As he looked up, his eyes racked Belle's legs against and he closed them briefly not to openly check her out. He turned around and strode out. He couldn't stay there.

Nick wanted to be as fast as possible : In, metal retrieval, bomb plant, out.

From what he had seen of the ship, the engines were quite simple but powerful and effective. Easy to sabotage.

The hardest part would be sneak in and out. He couldn't be Rush, unfortunately. His contacts had warned him about the laws hardening, and he hadn't told Belle yet he was a wanted man. Okay, not as himself which allowed him to walk free around here, but as his counterpart, Rush, a smuggler.

He called for a taxi to take him to Spaceport 132. Nicholas pinched the bridge of his nose and tried relaxing. He was a pack of nerves. He was quite tired, still. He was developping a headache, a bad one. He exhaled hard and fast once through his nose, willing himself to be strong and tough.

Belle started fidgeting as soon as Nicholas had left the bar.

That idiot was going to face a whole ship crew by himself. He was a small thin guy, barely out of bed. And he was going alone against the crew of the men who had wounded him. Why couldn't he be sensitive ?

Aston was eyeing her with care, seeing her annoyance.

"You gonna work with me, today ?" He asked, wiping a glass.

The bar wasn't very crowded today, and Jeff was doing his full act of insane bar patron, hat tilted low on the head, but he could handle the customers on his own. Thus Aston was doing small tasks, enabling him to stay around Belle. The boy was also suspecting his boss was kinda sweet on the idea of him and Belle, which was perfect for the barman.

"Belle ?" he said again, wanting to draw her attention on him. He grinned at her gently, putting on the charms. Belle's blue eyes focused on him. Her gaze was nervous and shifty. "Are you alright, Babes ?"

Aston sounded concerned. Belle looked at him, wondering why he was calling her 'Babes'.

"I'm fine" she replied in an irritated voice.

Aston backed off, not wanting to bring her ire on him. He had been in enough fights to know all Belle wanted now was an outlet for her anger at Nicholas. He didn't want to argue with her, after all, she was going to come home with him tonight. He started to think about a quiet evening in, food, alcohol, a movie, maybe more... He looked up to where she was sat and where she was not sitting anymore.

"Damn !"

Belle had given up the slip. She wasn't about to obey them. Those pre-civilisation men needed to understand she had her own mind, and it might be dangerous, but she could handle her own in battle. She was boiling with anger when she had to listen to Nicholas being condescendant and Aston dared turn on the suave charm to make her decide to stay, as if because she was a female, she'd swoon because he was pretty.

She needed a change of clothes before tracking Nicholas. She had no idea where to go, but if she didn't try to go help him, she wouldn't be able to look at herself in a mirror. Belle decided to walk the brave path at that moment, and to always do, and maybe she'd be brave.

She had done as every other Jeff's employees and kept a change of clothes at the bar. She took them from the common locker room and grabbed Vessarks' cloak on a whim before going into Nick's room to change.

She undressed from her pretty clothes and put on her practical ones : dark brown pants, a beige tunic, and black boots. As she sat on the bed and bent over to lace the boots, she saw a small notebook on the floor, by the chair.

She picked it up and she recognised the notebook Nicholas always carried around. He kept it tucked in the inside pocket of his waistcoat all the time, so it must have fallen down when Aston had undressed him the day before, or when he had dressed back up earlier. The little pen to write down in it was tucked between pages and cover.

She opened it, and saw it covered with unknown symbols written in washed up ink. She went through it, going to the last pages to see the last entries. The last page was freshly written, the ink intense.

_Spaceport 132/T6632741_

_Roggers._

_Capt Barrie Pan - fake?_

_Crew - humns & n/humns. /!\_

Nicholas' horrible writing was hard to read but she managed.

She mentally congratulated him for writing everything down. She didn't even need to track him, she knew where to go. She pocketed the notebook and wrapped herself in Vessarks' cloak. She put the hood on to hide her face. She looked around to see if someone from the staff had seen her and saw noone.

Belle discreetely left the back parts of the bar and went through the hall. Her hood made some customers notice her but as the day grew, more people went in and the staff was quite busy.

Aston was by the door, watching the street. Belle waited until Aston walked back inside, looking dejected. She waited behind a wall of people until he was back at the counter, shaking his head at Jeff, and she went out.

The streets were already packed up. She went by, unnoticed, her hood hiding her face. She called a taxi, slid her credits card into the proper slot and an automated voice started.

"Greetings. Where do you want to go ?"

"Spaceport 132" Belle answered.

This was exciting : adventure time. She sat backward in the seat and looked by the window, watching the scenery go by. In no time, she realised she was arrived and she took her card back before leaving the taxiship.

Spaceport 132 was almost like the spaceport they had landed in at their arrival, except, of course the number written in huge font on the building. She consulted Nicholas' notebook to remember the parking spot of their enemy's ship : T6632741.

She figured he was already there, as he had left before her. She also figured that he would go snooping around the ship's area, so that's where she would go. She pocketed the notebook and thanks to the placards, she found her way to the ship location. The spaceport was crowdy, full of people acting like ants, following each other, passing by each other... Some were focused on a task, like the spaceport workers, with their bright blue jacket, or like the scantily clad women, who sometimes left with ship crew members, or the governmental mechanics who got hired by damaged ships... Some were just hanging out, or meeting each other, crew members laughing together, or friends, family, lovers reuniting after a long absence. It was dizzy making.

Soon, thankfully, she found the Roggers and examined it.

A bright red hull with yellow edges, a yellow stern, high cockpit windows, lots of scanner and radio antennas, the medium-sized ship was colorful and made for speed. It was a thin ship, with an agressive pointy nose, and enlarged into a square. Then five propellants emerged from the stern. From what Belle could tell of it, it was fast and warlike.

The hatch was open, people came in and out and two bulky threatening-looking non-human persons stood on each side of the ramp.

Members of the crew were circling around the ship with tablets in their hands checking different parts of the hull.

Belle thought about just going in as if it was her right to go inside. Nicholas was probably inside already and she had to join because he was an ass, and he might have special elite warrior skills she didn't know about but she knew she could fight and Nicholas was about to need all the help he could gather. And it was her.

Suddenly a hand clapped her mouth and she felt herself being pulled backward and slammed against the wall, then it was darkness.

A grumpy voice said "What the fuck are you doing here ?"

"Nicholas ?"

"Of course it's me ! If it wasn't me, you'd be dead already ! What are you doing here ? I told you to stay with Jeff, for fuck sake !"

He sounded angry. She couldn't see him at all in the dark room but she could feel his body heat. She was not pressed against him but the room they were in was very small, her back and right arm were pressed against a wall.

"You were going against a whole crew. You need help."

"No I don't need help, idiotic girl ! I'm not going against the crew ! I'm going against the ship ! Now you're going to go back to the bar and wait for me ! Got it ?"

"No."

"I beg your pardon ?"

"You heard me, Nicholas."

"No I don't think so. I thought I heard you say no."

"I did say no." She growled. "You do not get to decide for me, DoctorNicholasVonStiltskin !"

"Yes I do ! You don't know anything about space ! About those guys !"

"The ship looks familiar." She retorted.

"And you-" He stopped talking and she could feel him tense. If there was light, she knew she would see him assessing her, but there was no light. The darkness was getting oppressing, their breath the only sounds. Finally Nicholas spoke in a soft surprised voice. "You noticed..?"

"Yes. I think that's the one who attacked us on the planet with the big water."

Nick stayed silent a minute but the silence was more comfortable.

"It doesn't change anything, Belle. You still need to go."

She shook her head then remembered he couldn't say her, so she voiced it again.

"I will not leave, Nicholas."

"I'm trying to protect you, Belle. I'm fucking trying to protect you and you're making it hard ! Why are you making it hard ?"

"Maybe I just do not need your protection !"

"Of course you do. You know nothing about the rules... the space... Don't you get it ? Without my protection, you'll be.. annihilated."

"Nicholas... You did try to look for a way inside..." Belle tried a new strategy.

"Aye."

"What ?"

"Aye."

"What is that sound?"

"It means yes." Impatience tainted his voice.

"Oh.. Then say yes."

He growled in answer. Belle started again. "So you tried looking for a way in, but you couldn't find one... I guess. Or you would be inside. Am I right ?"

"Aye." That time, he sounded vengeful and angry.

"Maybe I could help you sneak inside...?"

"How ?"

"Well, obviously Nicholas, I'm a woman"

"I did notice that fact" He had even managed to color that sentence with sarcasm. Belle prided herself on not bashing his head at once.

"I.. noticed.. women in the hall."

"There is a lot of people in the entry halls." He replied.

"Women that could probably enter the ships without rising no suspicions."

"For fuck sake, Belle ! Stop circling around it !"

"Prostitutes !"

"No fucking way ! No fucking fucking way !"

"Why ?"

"It's too fucking dangerous !" He was forcing himself not to shout and so his voice was quite husky and breathy.

"You sound like a broken record, Nicholas !"

"Belle. I just want you safe !"

"And also you do not trust me." She answered, matter of factly.

"Of course I don't trust you !"

Belle sighed. "Do you have a choice here ? You've seen the ship like I have. You can't sneak in, there's too many people. I'm your best shot, Nicholas."

He stayed silent a long time, even longer than the first two times. Then he opened the door, letting the light in. Belle looked around and realised she was in a small cupboard. She saw he was wearing a bright blue jacket, one he must have stolen from a man working at the spaceport.

"That was a nice idea... What went wrong with it ?" She asked.

"They make automatic blood DNA test to every spaceport employee about to go inside a ship. It's quite controlled now. Smugglers."

He didn't say they were after him, amongst others.

"I see" Belle said. "We can do it."

Nicholas looked into her eyes, wanting to see if she was sure of herself. Belle was determined, calm.

"I just want to be useful."

Nicholas nodded and removed her cloak. He looked at her outfit.

"You changed." He remarked in a disappointed voice.

"I thought we were going to fight."

"No. I'm not an idiot. I can't fight them all." He rolled his eyes, and tore off her sleeves.

"Hey !"

"I'm just getting you into the part."

He figured that, with how fast she acquired a boyfriend, she wouldn't have a problem acting seductive. Which reminded him...

"Where's Aston ?"

"At the bar, why ?"

"I wanted to know."

"You think he could be useful ?" She asked.

"No. I wouldn't want him distracting you."

She frowned at him and he shrugged, before continuing as if she hadn't reacted. "The crew members of the Roggers are dressed in some sort of uniforms, green pants and brown long Tshirt. Once you're inside..." He bit his tongue, the tip appearing between his lips. "You knock out the man. I won't... be there. Don't let him..."

"Don't worry, Nicholas. I understand."

She impulsively touched his elbow to reassure him. Belle was in nature a tactile person, touching came as natural for her as breathing, and it collided straight into Nick's hatred to be touched. He tensed and raised his other arm in defense, but did nothing else.

Belle tilted her head and squeezed his arm before dropping her arm to her side, Nick mirrored her. "I will be fine" she said, her voice reassuring. "I can fight. My father taught me."

"I see."

There was doubt in his voice. It was understandable, after all, a girl taught by her father couldn't know a lot.

"Nicholas, I was taught by the warriors of my tribe, who were ordered by my father."

"I see..."

"I will be fine, stop doubting me."

"I'm not doubting you" He said. "You say you can do it, I'm forced to trust you. But..." He pointed toward the ship briefly. "These men are unlike any you've seen. No sense of morale, no sense of pity, they're violent, don't listen to reason... They're animals."

"I'll do it." Belle smiled, confidently. "How do I do it ?"

"Once inside, you find a way to sneak me in. No more."

"Where ?"

"I can make my way around the ship, I can fake examine a cannon hatch. You open one of them, and I'll sneak inside." He fingered his blue official jacket to make her understand noone would question his going around the ship as he'd look official. "Then you go the hell out of here and I'll do the rest. Fine with you ?"

"How do I find the cannon hatches ?" Belle asked.

"That, Dearie, is the conundrum we're all depending on you solving." He winked at her with a smart smirk.

"Fine. I'll find on my own."

She turned her heels on him and walked toward the ship.

"Belle !" Nicholas called out.

She turned around and looked at him expectantly, frowning. "What ?"

"Act seductive ! You're a whore ! Remember ?"

Belle rolled her eyes at him and went on her way again, shaking her head. She forced herself to look around for crew members of the Roggers. She started swinging her hips to make herself enticing. And enticing, she was. Tiny little brunette, with sparkly blue eyes, and arms uncovered, she didn't look like a prostitute working in a spaceport but as she walked seductively - and kinda awkwardly - more and more male eyes started to follow her.

Nicholas' eyes followed her too. He stood frozen, gaze glued to her hips as she disappeared from his field of vision amongst the crowd. He shook himself, remembering she was a bothering pest. But a pretty one. And as soon as this thought crossed his mind, he mentally kicked it down, burying it deep and far into the recesses of his brain.

Belle joined the spaceport bar and saw some men with green trousers and brown tunic. There was 3 of them, all humans, hanging together, drink in hand. They were sat at a table and chatting quietly. She had her credits card in her back pocket, so she sat at a nearby table, facing her and she ordered a random drink.

A dark brown drink was put in front of her, and she paid the waiter with her credits card. The drink was very sugary, sticky in her mouth and quite thick. In one word, disgusting.

Belle started to stare at the three men, being really obvious. After a few minutes, one of them, the one facing her the most gazed at her. He grinned shyly at her. He was a man in his early twenties, ginger hair and blue eyes. Belle waved at him and he looked down, blushing. The other two looked around and spotted her. They turned to the boy and the eldest play-punched him in the shoulder. His blush deepened even more, and he tried shushing his friends. Belle waved at him again, and he waved shyly back again. That time, the eldest pushed him away from their table and toward Belle's.

The boy scratched the back of his neck, red as an apple, and hesitantly walked to where Belle was sitting.

"Hello..." He was painfully shy. He was looking at his feet. From up close, he may be even younger than what he had appeared.

"Hello." She grinned wide at him and the boy grinned even more, looking at her from under his lashes.

The boy was suddenly pushed aside by a tall man.

"Good afternoon, Lady. I am Curtis. I am this boy's commanding officer, and I am sure you need not trouble yourself with the likes of him. Ladies like you go for men like me, not boys."

Curtis was a tall man, with very short blonde hair. He was standing straight, hands behind the back, feet spread at shoulder width. He was wearing the colors of the Roggers crew, but in a more elaborate way she had never seen before. She was sorry for the boy but she needed to get onboard, and that... higher in the hierarchy man was her ticket.

Belle got up from her seat and laid her hands on Curtis' chest. She batted her eyeslashes at him seductively.

Curtis glanced at the boy, still on the floor.

"See ? You need to become a real man and then you can have the ladies."

The boy nodded rushingly, obviously used to being pushed around. The other two, the ones drinking with him were looking pityfully at him. No one in the bar gave a damn.

Curtis pulled Belle tight to his side, smirking sexily at her. "Let's go, I'll show you a good time, baby."

Belle felt highly disgusted but nodded, burying her feelings deep inside. That was acting. Ac-ting. A.C.T.I.N.G.

She fought herself not to kick that sorry excuse of a human being in the nuts.

Curtis and Belle, him still holding her tight against himself, left the bar and walked to the Roggers.

They passed Von Stiltskin, who looked their way. He was still leant against the same piece of wall Belle had left him, arms crossed on his chest. She didn't react to him in any way, but she could feel his gaze on her as they pass by. He appeared calm, determined and somehow she sensed he had her back. Curtis didn't even noticed him.

The closest to the Roggers they went, the more salutes they got.

Finally, they reached the ramp. The men guarding the entry saluted, clicking their heels.

"Sergeant Master Curtis." They both said in the same time.

Curtis nodded at them, and led Belle inside to his cabin. It was quite deep inside the ship, and far from the commanding areas.

"I'm surprised" Belle said. "You're obviously high in the hierarchy. Why are your quarters that far from the Bridge ?"

Curtis looked at her like she was a freak.

"What does it matter ? We're here to fuck. Oh you don't have any sickness ? And you didn't mention a price, so I can assume it's free ?"

Belle nodded. "For free, yes."

"You're healthy ?"

She nodded again, not trusting her voice.

"Good. Put yourself at ease. We'll be several hours here." He started to undress, showing his bulky chest. "Let's have some fun, baby..."

He smirked lustfully and removed his belt. "You into bondage ? Jeez I'd like to tie you and fuck you hard."

Belle's eyes were wide. Her naivety at such things was plain to see if Curtis had cared to look. But he didn't care. He just bent to remove his boots and Belle located a small portable computer to smash upon his head when a voice resonated through the ship.

"Captain on board. Captain on board."

"Shit !"

Curtis put his clothes back on, cursing the whole time. Belle was confused, she didn't understand what was happening. He looked at her. "You need to leave. I'll seek you out when I'm back here. What's your name ?"

"Hmmm... Bel" she started to give her real name out by habits and she forced herself to end her name in a different way. "Arus."

"Belarus ?" He repeated.

"Yes" Belle replied.

"Weird name for such a sexy girl."

She shrugged in answer. "Who cares ?"

"Yeah, damn right. Who does ?"

Curtis was now dressed. "I'll see you out. You need to leave before the Captain knows you're on board. He says women on board are bad luck."

Belle thought fleetingly that may be why Nicholas was so against her being on board of his own ship. The voice spoke again through the Roggers.

"Sergeant Master Curtis, your presence is required in the Captain's quarters at once."

"Shit shit shit shit !"

Curtis was panicked. Truly. Belle was surprised a man like him could be so open about his fear. Curtis was a bully, he had preyed on the weakest, but someone stronger openly made him panic. Either he compensated or that captain was someone really terrible.

Belle hoped for the former.

"I bet you don't remember the way out ?" Curtis snarled aggressively, talking to Belle as if she was dumb.

"No I don't. Sorry, Curtis" She looked contrite, batting her eyelashes at him again, overdoing her dumb sexy act.

"Shit."

He twisted his mouth down. "Wait here. I'll see what the captain wants and I'll come back to escort you out. Do. Not. Move. From. Here. Okay ?"

"Yes, Curtis."

She patted his chest appreciatively. Curtis groaned. "You are not playing fair, sweet thing."

He looked ready to kiss her but the voice echoed again.

"Sergent Master Curtis. At once in the Captain's office. It means now."

Curtis growled. "Shit, Flout, I'm going to hurt you, you bug !"

Belle frowned. Curtis looked at her and pecked her lips quick. "I need to go, babe. I'll be back."

Curtis looked at Belle one last time and left the cabin.

Nicholas Von Stiltskin had gone closer to the Roggers when Belle had come. He was starting to grow concerned. He hoped the large man who accompanied her inside hadn't hurt her. He just hoped she was fine. He was faking inspecting the underside of the Spaceship.

He saw a man arriving, wearing a long black coat with silver embroidement and a high collar, a black leather trousers with a white belt on which hung a ceremonial saber, and a large hat. He had a bright clean white shirt. Nicholas could not see the Captain's face but even from afar, he could see he gave out an impression of elegance and power.

Nick looked at him and realised the man was probably the owner of the ship, Captain Barrie Pan, the Peter Pan fan. From what he could see, the guy was obviously a fan of piratery too. Nicholas was ready to bet his Baby this Captain's favorite character was Captain Hook. He looked like a cosplay out of a convention on Amalia.

Captain Pan talked with some men outside and they all started to shout out as Pan walked back inside.

With growing horror, Nicholas realised all the men were following the Captain inside until only the two men by the ramp remained, one talking into a communication device, the other observing quietly the surroundings. He ended up spotting Von Stiltskin and he pointed him to his colleague. Nick swore under his breath, feeling shit was about to hit the fan.

The guard who had spotted him walked up to him.

"Agent, you should get away. We're about to leave. We're just waiting for the last crew members to arrive and we'll be on our way."

"But... I thought you had the docking spot for a few more days ?" Nick tried knowing more.

"Captain said we're leaving, so we are. The spaceport was paid, and offers no refund in case of early departure, right ?"

Nick nodded and the guard continued. "So you should get away, Agent. Engines will be spitting fire soon. You wouldn't want to get burnt."

With a nod and a smirk, the guard left and joined the ramp and his colleague once more. They exchanged a few words and kept on waiting for their comrades.

Nicholas frowned. Belle was still on board, no hatch was getting miraculously opened for him to crawl into and the ramp was guarded. She needed to get out of there. She couldn't be stuck inside. He needed to do something but right now, he had no idea what.

He could hear the clicky sounds of the hatch seals locking, he could hear ever noises a spaceship makes before warming up its engines. Turning back toward the ramp, he saw it closing. The members were all onboard, plus one. An uninvited one. Nick didn't want to be torched, so he got the hell out of there. The dock doors closed behind him as he left room and through the glass of the small round windows in the door, he saw the Roggers turning on his engines and fly away.

The doors reopened as soon as the engines flames were out. He stared at the empty space and at the square made by the Roggers propellants' fire, getting smaller and smaller as the ship left into the distance.


	4. Episode 3 : The Pirate and the Smuggler

Nicholas Von Stiltskin's eyes had stayed fixated on the Roggers' stern until the spaceship had left the spaceport. He looked around, in case Belle had managed to slip out miraculously from the ship. He was disappointed. She wasn't there. She was on the Roggers. She was in the belly of the beast and he - her gardian - was powerless to save her.

Fortunately, he knew that on Avonlea, exiting the atmosphear layer took as much time to go out as going in. There were permanent trafic jams. Maybe he had time...

He removed the blue jacket he had stolen and dropped it. He didn't need to make others think he was a spaceport agent anymore. He needed to go to Baby and pursue the Roggers. It was against his every instincts. From what he had seen of them, whether on Avonlea or on the planet with the ocean, the Roggers and its crew were pure pirates. They were bloodthirsty, pityless and they would probably butcher Belle after having gang-raped her.

If someone had to butcher Belle, that would be him. Second zone pirates had no right. He growled. Anger was so much better to feel than anxiety. He clenched his jaw and fists, and reviewed in his head the list of people in the surroundings who owed him - or Rush - a favor. No one useful came to mind, he was on his own. He needed to get to Baby, and then fly behind. Thing is if the Roggers jumped into hyperspace before he could hack into his systems, or deposit a tracker on it, he'd never know where it went.

He strode - he didn't run because he didn't want to get noticed - down the corridors until he arrived in the big hall. On the screens, the waiting time to exit the planet was four hours and thirty eight minutes. He checked the clocks, he had four hours and ten minutes left to do something before Belle was out of reach.

He checked a map on the wall and saw there was a 90 minutes long trip in taxi that would cost him a third of the money he'd had on the credits card he had with him. If he did the trip, only two hours and forty minutes would remain, and he would only start his four hours wait. Unless he didn't respect the waiting time. His mind started to give birth to a plan. It would not be wise to attempt it, but his Baby could do it. It was dangerous and he'd need some luck... But it would be the best shot he had. Now that was a lie, there was other things he could do, but he would depend on others, and that was not an option.

He exited the spaceport and got into a taxi without queueing for it, eliciting groans from the queue. Nicholas ordered the driverbot to go to spaceport 24 and settled down into the cushions for the long drive. He looked by the windows, and got the phone out. No contact was made from Belle, and he hoped it wasn't because she was physically unable to do it. He didn't dare call because if she was in hiding, the last thing she needed was a ringtone pinpointing her.

Nick sighed and put it back into his pocket. He had both the phone and the Baelfire remote, which was inactive, because the ship was too far away for now. He may have fallen asleep because suddenly, the robotic voice was announcing they were arrived, and he could feel sand sliding down his chest under his Tshirt, as he got up. The medigel had done its work, and as he brushed himself off, Nick felt the small ridges of a very faint scar. Great, one more, he thought.

He shook himself awake and got out the taxiship. Spaceport 24 was less packed than spaceport 132 as it was further from the town's most crowded areas, and it was the first time Nick regretted it. If his spaceport had been closer, he would have been able to tail the Roggers. He wouldn't have to play kamikaze with the Avonlea forcemen like he was about to do.

Von Stiltskin used the remote to preheat the engines, and he crossed the spaceport, like he owned it, hair flapping behind him. He looked like a man on a mission. He was a man on a mission. He typed the code to open the dock on which the Baelfire was anchored. The big metal doors opened and he accessed the area. He closed the doors behind and checked his Baby's hull. There was no scratches, anything. Thankfully. With the state of mind he was in, he'd have bashed someone's skull in.

He entered the ship, and the hatch closed and sealed. He sat in the pilot's chair, ready to manoeuver his way out. He grabbed the audio and made his call to the flight control agents.

"FCA, HMS Baelfire calling, from dock 5968M. I have to leave immediately."

"HMS Baelfire, you are ahead of schedule. No refund will be issued."

"Not a problem, FCA. I need to leave at once." Nicholas said impatiently.

"Very well, HMS Baelfire. Your waiting time is four hours and fifty minutes."

"Alright."

"You can fly now, and join the orange line to depart the spaceport."

"Very well. HMS Baelfire out."

"FCA out." The agent replied.

With the engines properly warmed up, Nicholas took off. The Baelfire flew smoothingly amongst the lines and joined the orange queue.

He stroked the console without realising it, the lukewarm soft metal soothing his soul, as always. Now he just had to wait, one of his weakest points.

When the Roggers started to purr, Belle understood what was happening. The floor under her feet started to buzz like Nicholas' ship when flying. The Roggers was leaving and she was locked up inside a cabin.

Curtis had locked the door when he had gone out to see the Captain. Belle allowed herself a few moments of panic, before sitting on the bunk, and she put her head between her knees. She breathed in and out slowly, to calm down. She fingered her phone. It was tempting to call Nicholas but for now, she didn't know how thick and soundproof the cabin walls were. She definitely didn't want to be heard from the outside.

She tried carefully the handle to test the lock but the door held fast and strong. She swore mentally, and looked around for something to do. The cabin was quite empty : a hard-looking bunk with old sheets, a metal chair and table, a cupboard. On the table, laid the laptop she had been planning to use to knock Curtis out. There was some pictures on the walls, naked females, both humans and non-humans, displayed in lewd poses, and even with... accessories in the ones pasted the closest to the bed. A dozen of books, worn and dog-eared, were piled up on a thin wood shelf above the table. There was a small round window, a bit too high for her to see through, but it gave her some meager light.

Belle had no choice but to sit, and to wait for Curtis to be back before deciding what to do. After all, she was there to stay, but she hoped Nicholas didn't do anything rash. She was on her own for now as she was destined to be and she wasn't defenceless. She just had to be ressourceful, and hope for Nicholas to be able to track her down. She'll just have to stay hidden and be smarter. She had deduced from Curtis' behaviour that he was not meant to bring women on board. It could work in her favour if Curtis wanted to save his hide.

She couldn't feel the spaceship moving but figured that as they had queued to go in, they would have to queue to go out. She didn't know for how long but she felt she had to try something. If the ship was moving, the crew was bound to be busy at their post. The sleeping quarters would be empty. But that still didn't solve her problems of being locked in.

Belle groaned mentally and grabbed the chair to position it under the porthole. She climbed on it and looked through. The Roggers wasn't exactly still. It was in a queue, and there were others by theirs. It was hovering gently, her view changing a little bit with every moves from the spaceship. She could see the cluttered planet, people down walking so pressed to each other they looked like bugs crawling over each other. Somewhere down there, Nicholas. She couldn't help smirking as she imagined the bad words he must have yelled as he realised the situation.

They were still in the atmosphear, though. Belle knocked on the window, trying to assess how solid it was. It was solid. It had to be solid like the hull. After that window was part of the hull. She didn't think she could break it... Just in case she measured it with her fingers and reported the length to her hips, and realised there was no chance in hell for her hips and ass to go through the opening.

She got down the chair with another groan. For now, waiting was the only option. She put the chair back in its rightful place and looked at the books. Most of them were about magnetism, and the others were thrillers, and books of the sort that made Belle blush and put back on the shelf precipitingly. In the end, she grabbed a book about magnetism. She sat next to the bed, slightly hidden by it, facing the door ready to slide underneath it if needed.

And she waited.

Nicholas was ready by the time the Baelfire emerged from inside the spaceport. He exited the orange line and moved as if he was going to join the line of ships awaiting to leave the atmosphear. He activated his shields which was strictly forbidden in Avonlea's crowded atmosphear, and activated an option that had been the most useful he had found in the last fifteen years : camouflage.

The ship projected onto the shields the image of another ship model, and then to all eyes and radars, it wasn't the Baelfire anymore, it was that other ship. And it was damn useful when smuggling.

The Baelfire became a very common looking ship, a trading one, fast and compact. And Nicholas started breaking every flying laws known on Avonlea, empire and local.

He flew his ship between the ship queues, and broke every speed and height limits. The ship soared, answering to Nick's every moves on the consoles. And the pilot was enjoying himself despite the dangers and issues. Nicholas flew around the long queues seeking to go to the surroundings of spaceport 132 before rising up and pierce the ozone layer.

He heard the audiocom static and a female voice spoke.

"Unknown ship, you will land immediately. Immediately."

"Negative."

Von Stiltskin thickened his Scottish accent on purpose, trying to change his voice. The woman's voice got aggressive.

"Land at once or we will shot you."

"You can try."

"Land !"

"Nope, Lady. I've got things to do." Von Stiltskin couldn't keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"You will be treated as a hostile ship and you will be shot down."

"I'm very hostile, right now."

Nicholas cut the audiocom device and readied himself. A low anger burnt in his guts, but he felt mostly calm. He was focusing on his piloting skills, as the Baelfire went around spaceships, high buildings at an sensational speed, one reserved for space traveling, not planet flying.

The radar blinked red, indicating three ships pursuing him.

Nick's Baby avoided a food retailer ship, before a forceman ship emerged from behind a building to cut Nick's flight, forcing him to take a dive. He dove, then expertly rounded the building, nosing Baby up slowly to straighten the spaceship. She reacted perfectly, obeying her pilot. Nicholas forced himself not to fire at the forcemen who for once were just innocent meddlers. The radars indicated now six ships behind him, but he allowed himself to be distracted for a few minutes as Baby stopped brutally to fly amongst buildings, she left a continent and flew over an ocean.

He made use of the calm to arm a secondary canon. This one launched sonic balls, to destroy enemy's navigation. Nicholas was rewriting the balls programmation to send a subspace ping to the Baelfire. It was a very archaic way of tracking because he'd have to fish for the tracker rather than being indicated where the ship is but it was the most he could do for now.

He managed to keep the distance between him and the pursuers until spaceport 132 got into sight. Multiple spaceships of various size and shape were all behind each other.

On the console, suddenly, a view taken by the front camera highlighted in red the Roggers while a neutral voice spoke.

"Enemy ship spotted. You asked for notices when that particular ship is in sight. Enemy ship spotted. Do we engage destruction ?"

"No !" Nicholas growled, focused.

The sonic canon was armed, the Roggers in sight, but he had one chance. One chance to make the most of the shitty situation he was in.

In his windshield, the Roggers' stern was getting bigger and bigger and just before he had to turn or crash into it, he fired.

The sonic ball shot and crashed into the Roggers hull, indenting itself into the propellants, melting and fusioning with the ship itself.

Nick turned abruptly, and directed the Baelfire toward the sky. Through the audiocoms came the voices of the forcemen and one of the audiocom operators from the Roggers, but he paid no attention to them. He headed up, maximum speed without breaking into Faster Than Light speed and the atmosphear layer didn't resist. Baby pierced it mercilessly and Nick emerged into space. At least, he knew the ships which gave him chase planetside couldn't come there, but he had no doubts the space police would be there in a few minutes now that they knew where he had emerged. Also, he needed to change his camouflage again and stay around.

No doubt the cameras of Avonlea were on him, so he had to be discreete while changing Baby's skin. He selected the fourth moon of Avonlea and while spinning around it, he changed the camouflage to an old cargo ship, way too old to be able to do the kind of speed needed to pierce through atmosphear.

Then he waited again, for the Roggers to come in space.

Several days later, the biggest battle spaceship that had ever existed - a floating monument of metal able to host a fleet of smaller ships which took flight to fight space battles - appeared in the Avonlea sky.

It held its army, its armada, it was the most famous of battleships, and it wore its name proudly, having earned it through conquests and massacres. It was called The Annihilation. It was Queen Ina Illmergs' ship, Heiress of the Empire, daughter of the Empress C. Illmergs.

Queen Ina was a fierce commander, a fine strategist, and a dirty fighter. It was rumoured pirates and smugglers had taught her, that she knew every martial arts of the universe and that she was unvincible.

Under her orders, Peace had been made in the galaxy. The independant warrior planets had been beaten into submission, the outter edge planets had been isolated, and very rare now were the planets who could afford not being part of the empire and survive.

Since Peace was made, the Annihilation hadn't fought a massive battle but it patrolled the empire territory. It tracked and fought pirates, smugglers, and the Rebels, the most vicious empire enemies.

And it was this police work of hers which drew her to Avonlea. A hostile spaceship, too fast for the model it was - probably super boosted engines - had escaped from Avonlea, damaged the atmosphear layer, and disappeared mysteriously. It was a clue, a big clue. Only one smuggler could do that. Then he had answered the forcemen call and had spoken. The voice with that weird accent no expert could place, the thick accented voice that spoke the official Empire language, flawlessly, with a perfect grammar... But with that accent. Queen Ina was obsessed by this smuggler. He was rarely seen, he was efficient, hard to contact, expensive, and he managed to sneak in every places he wasn't supposed to. He went by Rush. No first name, no last name, nothing, just a brief surname.

The Queen had sworn to catch Rush. And when Rush decided to have some fun, she came immediately. She needed to investigate. It was highly unlikely, but she had to try tracking the magitrion particles. She knew there was too much traffic and too much magitrions ; plus Rush wasn't known to use uncommon ships.

From her findings, she suspected Rush was a team name and not a single man. No one alone could tinker in the engine boosters.

Anyhow, for now, she throned in her admiral chair, her team of engineers and pilots busying around her. They worked efficiently, each of them ready to obey Queen Ina's every orders.

Avonlea's forcemen's general was saluting her.

"General."

"Admiral Queen Ina, welcome on Avonlea." The old and strong General bowed.

"Thank you General. I'm listening to you."

"The smuggler Rush was spotted in our sky 6 days ago, piloting a CF1458MG4, a Vangar Trade ship. The ship displayed a speed and an agility not adapted to those ships..."

The General reported all the facts, and concluded by stating the conclusion Queen Ina dreaded.

"We tried tracking the Magitrions particles, to advance you but the ship just vanished... It flew behind the fourth moon, and it just... popped away... There was no.. hyperspace jump residues... No witness... No camera. Nothing." After a silence, the General added. "I'm sorry our research is a disappointement, Admiral Queen."

"It seems hard to conceive one little ship could defeat the whole of Avonlea forcemen. I thought the laws had been hardened. This... This should not have been possible."

Her face was icy marble, she was still in her armchair.

"I know, Admiral Queen." The General wasn't even trying to justify himself.

"You will be replaced, General. Hopefully your successor will be able to handle those little problems."

Queen Ina flashed an amused and smug little smile at the General, who looked shocked but nodded his agreement. After all, the Illmergs dynasty hadn't made his notarious strength by being weak and sentimental. If the Imperial family thought he had failed his duty, then he had.

He bowed, and thought about his retirement. He had been waiting for it for years now but duty called. He had given his life to Avonlea, and it was time Avonlea gave it back. He left, and Queen Ina didn't see his smile. Fortunately.

Nicholas was tracking the Roggers. They had jumped into hyperspace as soon as they were able and Nick had jumped straight after them. It had been six days ago.

The marker he had left on the Roggers sent him little subspace pings. As long as the strength of the pings didn't change, he was at the same distance of the Roggers, so it was fine.

Von Stiltskin was dreading going to sleep because he needed to go out from hyperspace when the Roggers' marker's pings suddenly were behind him instead of before him.

He was surviving thanks to farherb infusions. He was getting severely sleepdeprived. He was fingering the flat side of the dented mug absentmindedly, running his fingerpad across the ridge, trying to stay awake... He closed his eyes... then jerked up. He got up and frantically, lifted the cup to his lips.

He needed to stay awake. AWAKE. Belle counted on him.

Aboard the Roggers, the cook was perplexed. Food was missing. It was weird because the food was rationned and when he bought it, he bought the exact amount needed for the crew for the good number.

And twelve rations were missing, so two meals twice a day, as if there was an extra person. Cook asked for an audience with his Captain.

Captain Pan listened to Cook's reports.

"I want to know who steals, Cook. No one is allowed to steal. Summon Mr Holden on your way out."

Cook nodded his green head.

"Yes Sir."

Captain Pan leant back in his cushiony armchair, waiting for his lieutenant to arrive. He crossed his ringed fingers, and rested his stubbled jaw on them.

Holden knocked and waited to be told to come in before doing it. Many men had gotten their back lashed because they didn't respect etiquette.

"Captain. Sir." Holden stood at attention.

"We have a food thief on board. Find out who doesn't respect rationning and bring him to me."

"Do I proceed discretely or do I make public searches, Sir ?"

Captain Pan gave the question a few seconds of consideration and shrugged. "Whatever is fastest. I want him caught and brought in shackles in this very office in less than forty eight hours. Are we clear, Mr Holden ?"

"Crystal, Sir."

Holden saluted, clicked his heels. "Permission to leave, Sir ?"

"Granted." The Captain looked down at his papers on his desk as Holden took his leave.

Holden reunited the crew in the assembly hall. He was alone for now, waiting for the men to come. He was rehearsing his speech in his mind. He was shifting from foot to foot, trying not to shiver. The Captain was terrifying man, and thus Holden was properly terrified.

One by one, the crew members arrived, hung around, chatting quietly, while awaiting too. Holden stroked his hands, feeling the icy pressure of stress he associated with being on a mission for the Captain settle on his chest. Finally, they were all there.

Holden cleared his throat.

"Crew, we have a problem."

His voice was weak, crackling and the men weren't listening. After all, Holden wasn't much up in the hierarchy. He wasn't that important, he was a little weakling, one-eyed human. However he was smart and he knew what to say.

"The Captain knows and he wants it handled."

The crew shut up abruptly. Mentionning the Captain had always this effect, the crew was - no matter whether non-humans or humans - at attention, focused, serious...

"We have a food thief on board." Holden continued, calmly. Not having to fight for the men's attention did wonders for his nerves, and he spoke louder. "The Captain wants to know who it is. I'm going to give you one chance. Denounce yourself. Because if you don't, I'm going to find you. And when I do, it'll be worse. If you denounce yourself now, the punishment will be fifty lashes of the whip."

He stopped talking, waiting to see if someone raised his hand, but no one did.

"Last chance ? No. Fine. it's now one hundred lashes. Who did it ? Who dared betray the crew like that ?"

He observed the members for signs of nervosity, but they all looked innocent, wondering, looking around at each other.

"We're short of twelve meals. Because of you, twelve members won't have a meal on the last day of the trip."

Holden stopped talking again, narrowing his eyes.

"Fine. Now you're officially hunted. I'm coming after you. The Captain is coming after you. And the punishment is death."

He clicked his heels, and left the room fast, for dramatic effect. When he was out, he ran to the staircase to the railway up high on one length of the assembly hall. He wanted to observe the suspects without them knowing it.

They were chatting among themselves, in little groups. Then after a while, they separated and went back to work. That was totally unconclusive. Holden hadn't noticed Curtis slipping out of the room as soon as the speech was done.

Curtis was out the room the moment he could. He had tried being nice to that bitch he had brought onboard on Avonlea, but it had to come to an end. He had fed her, let her stay in his room, had told her she could go to the bathroom at the end of the corridor, and now he was going to die for that. He needed to get rid of her at once.

First, he decided not to feed the bitch anymore, as the kitchen would probably be under watch. If she wanted food, she could get it herself, that bitch. He had endangered himself too much already.

He burst into his cabin, and saw Belarus sat at his desk, reading one of his book about magnetism. She kept busy reading and cleaning. That bitch didn't want to fuck him because she didn't want to scream out loud and got heard. That was probably true, Curtis liked fucking hard and rough. He had tried explaining her he could gag her but from her face, he understood that was not her stuff. He could not even get her to give him a blowjob. He sighed. That had been a fucking loss of time. From Curtis' point of view, the Captain was totally right, women on a ship were bad news.

That one had endangered him and she didn't even thank him properly. Yeah, ratting her out was the best decision he could take.

"You're out."

Belle blanched. "I beg your pardon ?" She sounded shocked.

"You're out ! You can't stay there anymore !"

Curtis grabbed her arm and pulled her up brutally, jerking her toward the door. He pushed her into the corridor, after making sure no one could witness the scene.

Belle slammed into the opposite wall. It hurt, because Curtis had really not been tender at all. He stepped out of his cabin and locked it.

"Run, bitch. They're after you."

He walked off, not a care in the world for what would happen to her.

Her forearms were achy. And she looked around. Now that Curtis was gone, the area was silent and deserted. Belle went toward the opposite direction Curtis had gone. Hopefully she could find a quiet corner from which she could try to phone Nicholas. She hoped she could contact him, but if he had stayed on Avonlea, she didn't think she could.

Gods, now, she was screwed. She had no idea where to go, or what to do.

Belle walked slowly, as silently as she could, keeping to shadows, nooks, every little holes she could find and fit into. She went as deep into the ship as she could, and the noise of the engines became deafening.

She changed directions, seeking a deep but quieter place. She ducked when technicians came around, she hid more and more, and she realised she was going to a more populate part of the Roggers. So, she turned around and came closer to the ship engines again.

Finally, she found a satisfying spot, not noisy enough to be deafening, and deserted enough.

She took her phone out, and looked into the contacts numbers. She grinned wide, when she realised Aston had saved Nicholas' number into the phone.

Von Stiltskin was still following the Roggers. He had displayed on the screens in front of him the map from the corner of the galaxy.

He had taken his notebook out and was trying to predict the planet the Roggers was going to. He had calculated the fuel reserves, thanks to the size of the engines and the propellants - which he got from the pictures the Baelfire had taken during the attack - and the speed. Then he had calculated for how light years he could travel for this reserve, and then he applied it to the map.

If the Roggers was going to the end of his reserve, then he could go quite far, but he'd need a planet which allowed it to refuel.

There was no planets allowing a refuel in this corner, no legal planets, at least.

Nicholas started to hope the Roggers wasn't going to a pirate planet. They were protected, defended like fortresses, and only known or recommanded ships could go in. And even Rush had never been authorized to dock on a pirate planet, despite being on the wrong side of law. Piracy was a strict world, a secret and protected world, and Nick had no inkling of knowing it.

A small music coming from his jeans interrupted his music, and his pocket started to tickle him. He frowned, and plunged his hand into his pocket. He took his phone out, a bit surprised at hearing it and even seeing it.

A name was blinking in a bright glowing blue light on the smooth black phone, Belle's. He touched it, and it stopped ringing. A timer started to run and he could hear Belle's voice, very low, very distant.

"Nicholas ? Nicholas ? ... Nicholas !"

Suddenly he realised he had to hold the phone to his ear, and he felt he could hit himself. Belle's voice spoke in his ear.

"Nicholas ?"

"Yes ?" He sounded breathless.

"Oh Nicholas !" Belle sounded so relieved she sobbed a little from it.

"Belle ?" He could only hear her heaving, and breathing loud and fast. "Belle, talk to me ! How are you ? Are you hurt ?"

"No..."

"Where are you ?"

"On the Roggers"

"Yeah I know that." Nick tried not to roll his eyes. "Are you safe ?"

"Not really... I was but not anymore. Nicholas, tell me you're planning on rescuing me."

"I'm following the Roggers. I just can't board it while we're in hyperspace, but I'm right behind."

"Thank you..." Belle sighed in even more relief.

Nicholas swallowed. "Belle... I won't let you down. I'll protect you."

He heard her swallow too and he closed his eyes, skin tight around them.

"I need to go, someone's coming." She whispered precipitingly.

"Be sa-" She hung up. "-fe, Belle."

Well, at least, she was alive. She was alive and he was worried as hell.

Belle spent the next hours feeling like a prey. She was a prey. She felt like an animal must feel when a hunter from her tribe hunted him. Talking had done her a world of wonders. She knew for a fact he had not let her be kidnapped. She knew she had to resist and fight because Nicholas would come for her.

She tried surviving, but she wasn't as good as she thought she was. She tried finding the kitchen, but couldn't. She tried entering a cabin but couldn't. She tried finding a spot where to sleep but she couldn't find one silent enough to sleep in an area deserted enough to be safe. The only place she managed to get into was a bathroom to relieve herself. At least, she still had a bit of dignity.

But after a dozen hours, thirst and hunger settled in, and she realised that her predicament had turned into a nightmare.

Despite himself, Curtis was impressed. He had thrown Belarus out thirty six hours ago and she still hadn't been caught yet. No more food thiefs were reported, so he figured she hadn't been able to eat. Soon she'd weaken. Maybe she'd even died in a corner.

If he saw her again, he'd catch her and would denounce her as the food thief. And he'd be rewarded, probably in riches or in prostitutes. That would be great. Actually, he had regretted letting her go as soon as he had. He wanted to hunt her and catch her and bring her to Captain Pan, like the fucking hero he was. Finally he would have the recognition he deserved. Fucking Holden, fucking Flout. They were up in the hierarchy when Curtis was stuck as being the magnetism master.

So, as soon as his shift was off, he started hunting Belarus.

Belle was parched, famished and exhausted. She had slipped into a vent conduct to sleep, but the smell was too much. She just waited for time to pass and in the end, it was almost a relief when the conduct grid opened and Curtis' harsh feature appeared.

He grabbed her again and jerked her out.

"Hello."

"Curtis..." Belle replied, voice raw because of her dry voice.

"Come with me."

He started pulling her roughly by the elbow, leading her through endless mazy corridors. To Belle, everything looked the same.

Curtis stopped brutally and he pulled Belle tight to him. "If you think of ratting me out, stop." He murmured at her ear. "I'm going to lead you to the Captain. If you think of telling him that I sheltered you... Maybe I will not be able to punish you myself, but I have friends... Friends who can hurt you very much... And make you regret being born."

Belle felt suddenly a bright flame lighting inside her. "You... You are a despicable sorry ass, Curtis. You will even be more sorry, soon."

"Move, bitch."

Curtis felt cold, he was so sure Belarus was a meak little girl but now, as he looked into her ferocious eyes... he was not so sure. It was as if a lioness had been awake inside her, and despite her being weak and tired... she had fire in her. A bright and intense fire.

He swallowed and looked down, then brutally up, glaring agressively, before knocking on her door. Captain Pan's suave voice called out.

"Come in."

Curtis pushed the door open, then entered the Captain's office, pulling Belle behind him.

"Captain Pan ? My respects, Sir."

"Sergeant Master Curtis."

Curtis nodded respectfully. "Sir, I have found the culprit."

He pushed Belle forwards, toward the desk. Her bruisy forearms and hands collided painfully with the piece of furniture. Pan looked at her up and down, with heavy disgust.

"A woman on board." He curled his lips. "They're bad luck."

"I think she's a stowaway, Captain" Curtis offered.

"Really...?" The Captain looked at Belle with interest.

"No I am not a stowaway, Captain."

"What are you, then..?" Captain Pan looked interested. Disgusted, but interested.

"I am a woman this man" Belle pointed at Curtis by his side. "has brought onboard on Avonlea. The ship had flown away, and since then he has hidden me and fed me."

Curtis grabbed her arm and squeezed hard, his knuckles whitened. Captain Pan saw it, and his jaw tightened.

"Mr Curtis, is this true ?"

Curtis paled to an almost sickly colour. "No Sir. I discovered her hidden into a venting conduct !"

"Captain" Belle interjected. "A stowaway needs to go somewhere. Your spaceship didn't advertize the destination, how would I know you would bring me where I want to go ?"

Captain Pan's lips were drawn from disgust into a sneer.

"She's made a very valid point, Mr Curtis."

Curtis was now white.

"I think you're thinking I'm a fool, Mr Curtis." The Captain pressed the button of the audiocom on his desk. "Mr Holden. I want you in my office now."

The next few minutes were spent in a total incomfort, with Curtis crushing Belle's arm, Belle glaring at Curtis, and Pan observing them icily.

A few polite knocks resounded inside the desk.

"Come in."

Holden got in and stood at attention.

"Captain Pan."

"Mr Holden, Mr Curtis here said he has found a stowaway on my ship, this woman." He pointed at Belle.

"A woman ?" Holden looked as horrified as Pan and Belle rolled her eyes, wondering why her gender was so important to them.

"Yes, a woman. Now, this woman says she is not a stowaway, that Curtis himself brought her onboard and stole food for her."

"Ah ?" Holden looked at Curtis and Belle.

Curtis was looking furious and sickly worried.

"What do you think, Mr Holden ?"

"Well, Captain Pan, I think from Mr Curtis' behaviour, it is probably true. He looks too nervous, Sir."

Holden was smirking at Curtis, who was grinding his teeth. Holden added "plus, how could she ever get in without someone ? I'm sure that questionning the guards at the ramp on Avonlea would answer that question. If they saw Curtis entering the ship with her... Well, we'll know she was right."

Curtis' hold on Belle's arm tightened even more and she grinded her teeth in pain.

"Release the prisoner, Mr Curtis." Captain Pan said in a dark voice.

Curtis let go of her arm reluctantly, and her arm was ready to bruise.

"Mr Holden, take Mr Curtis into custody."

Holden grabbed Curtis' arm and led him away. Curtis made a move to escape Holden but a hard glare from the Captain made sure he let himself be taken away, leaving Belle alone with the Captain.

"Who are you and what are you doing onboard ?" He asked.

Belle gritted her teeth and decided to stick to her cover story. "I'm Belarus. Curtis brought me inside to fuck me and the ship departed. He stole food for me until the thiefs were noticed and he threw me out of his cabin."

"Chance, then."

"An accident, rather." Belle corrected.

The Captain looked at her, trying to assess her, to see if she was lying. "What to do with you ?"

"Maybe I could pay you the meals I ate and you could let me go at the next planet ?" Belle offered.

It sounded sensible and generous. Even very reasonable, Belle thought, until the Captain burst out laughing.

"I think you mistook us for traders ! Sorry to tell you, little one, but we're pirates."

Belle played her part and gasped. "No... Please let me go..."

"So you stayed on the ship, you're now merchandise..."

Belle frowned. She didn't think she'd like what was about to come. Captain Pan fingered his desk and a map appeared on the desk. It was a map of the stars around them and in the middle a dot was blinking. The map was moving keeping the dot in the middle. He touched and a planet was highlighted. It was to the right of the blinking dot.

"We're going there."

Belle swallowed. "What is it ?"

"The planet where my friend is."

"Oh..."

The captain looked up at Belle and smirked. "He has a flying brothel, and he's always looking for new girls. I'm going to sell you to him."

Belle looked horrified and the Captain laughed at her. He pressed the audiocom and said "New destination, we're going to planet at the coordinates L558H12369P296374. I need someone to transfer a prisoner to a cell."

He released the button, and proceeded to ignore Belle as he typed more. A message template opened. He entered the code to make sure his friend was reached, then typed quickly.

_'I have merch for you. Stay where you are. I will be there in 20 hours.'_

And he sent the message.

The Captain leant back into his seat and smirked at Belle. She was fidgeting, looking around his office.

"You'll find no other exit but this door, and you can't hurt me."

She opened her mouth to speak but got cut by a knock at the door. The Captain commanded the man knocking to enter and when he did, Captain Pan pointed at Belle.

"Get her into a cell."

The man nodded and grabbed Belle by her forearm. She winced and tried to resist but he just shoved her forward and forced her to follow him. She resisted all her might but in the end, he just slammed her against the wall. Her head banged against it with a loud noise and her vision went dark.

When Belle woke up, she was caged. she knew her eyes were open but it was dark. And her head hurt a lot. She remembered what happened and touched the back of her head warily. She grimaced again, pain making her eyes water. She sighed and closed her eyes again. She raked her fingers through her hair, hoping Nicholas had noticed the change of course.

She patted her trousers pockets and nearly wept in relief when she realised she still had her phone. That idiotic pirate had not even thought to search her. She thought that maybe only the Captain had a brain. Or, they were so all under his authority no one knew what initiatives were. Maybe she could make it work in her favour...

She pressed the sleek black item in her hand and a small glowing light appeared. She turned her phone around, examining her surroundings. She was in a tiny square room, with two buckets in a corner. One was empty and the other was full of water. There was no door she could see. The noise of the engines was deafening, so she deduced she was somewhere near the stern.

She didn't dare call Nicholas, after maybe she could be heard and with the noise, she didn't think he could hear her without her shouting and she didn't want to warn her jailors she could communicate with the outside. She chose to text him :

_'Nicholas we changed course. Turned right, don't know where.'_

The answer came after a few minutes of anguished wait. _'Yeah I saw.' _

She felt relieved he had realised it. He was still behind them. She texted back :

_'I was found. am in a cell.'_

_'Are you hurt ?'_

_'My arms are aching. He wants to sell me to a flying brothel'_

She had to wait a good fifteen minutes for Nicholas' answer.

_'Good.'_

_'WHAT ?'_

_'It means the ship will land and I can interfere. Stay safe.'_

_'ahah.'_

And there was no more answer. Belle stayed in the dark, worried for her fate, but confident in Nicholas.

Belle had lost every notions of time. She was still in darkness, and she kept her phone inactive. Without any light, the battery would just go off and she would not be able to contact Nicholas at all.

A little trapdoor in the wall, by the floor, opened suddenly and the face of the ginger-haired boy from the bar in Avonlea spaceport appeared, looking at her with a tense face.

The glare of the light from the corridor blinded her and it took several minutes for her to get used to light again. The boy was staring at her, a not so well hidden hurt in his eyes.

"Hey" Belle tried.

The boy stayed stubbornly mute.

"Look" She tried again. "I didn't want to be cruel to you in the bar." Belle sighed. "I just needed to get on board and the highest ranked officier would have done. I don't care what Curtis said, he's an excuse of a man. No matter what he says... Women don't want men like him." She started to ramble, wanting to make sure the boy get her point. "They'd take a gentle guy like you over any assholes officers any day. They want respect, you know, not to be treated as objects. And if I had had a choice that day... I'd have gone for you."

The boy flashed a little grin and slipped a loaf of bread by the trapdoor. He moved to close it but before he could, Belle exclaimed "Wait !"

He stilled and his hand moved away but he didn't close the little trap. He seemed expectant. "What is your name ?" Belle asked in a soft voice.

"Archy"

"Hello Archy, I am Belle."

She held her hand for him to shake and he slipped a trembling hand inside her cell and they shook hands gently.

"Hello..."

Archy licked his parched lips and asked. "Are you ok in there ?"

"I guess..."

"We're going to be there soon."

"Alright..."

"I- I have to go, Belle, I'm sorry. I hope you have found what you came for."

Belle had a fleeting thought for the elkium all these efforts had been made for, and she felt slightly nauseous. So much done for so little, in the end.

Archy closed the trap door and she was left into darkness once more.

The Roggers dropped out of hyperspace near the planet the Captain's friend was. The ship landed, and it was way easier than on Avonlea. No queue, no spaceport, only a preformed hole in the atmosphear to let spaceships in.

Mr Holden was sent to fetch the prisoners, Curtis and Belle. Captain Pan was gone forward to meet his friend, the brothel owner.

Curtis was glaring at her, shackled with good old chains, the ones that rarely got done these days. Holden held others she guessed would be put on her. She had only one opportunity and as soon as the door opened, she pushed it harder, making it slam against Holden's face. She slipped under Holden's arms and fled. She ran straight ahead, under the screams of Holden and Curtis.

She was aware of the fact she had zero chance of finding the exit but she had run, not for escaping but for damaging. She wanted to make as much damages as she could. Belle ran into corridors and corridors, all looking the same and suddenly she faced consoles and screens with a man monitoring them and she attacked.

Belle had the advantage of surprise, and she took it fully. She kicked the pirate behind the knee, and he fell to them, and she punched him in the throat to prevent a scream, then she jumped on his back. She wrapped her left arm around the man's throat and hooked her left arm in the nook of her right elbow. She folded her right forearm behind the man's head. She squeezed her arms, leant backward and pushed her hips forward.

The man choked and less than a minute later, he was unconscious. Belle knew he would be awake in 10 minutes, more or less. She faced the consoles and examined them. She wondered what to do... The screens were covered in signs she didn't know and she touched some, but it led to plans, with purple zones and yellow zones... She remembered that on Nick's screens, in the medbay, purple meant bad. Maybe it meant the same here ?

She touched a yellow zone and it zoomed to more writings and valves plans, graphics whose colours evolved between pale yellow and intense yellow. Belle frowned a little, and touched a valve. At the touch of her finger, the valve on the screen turned a little and the colour of the graphic became a greyish yellow. She tried tourning it again and the graphic became purple. She grinned victoriously and started to open every yellow zones, turning the valves in nonsense ways, and slowly the whole plan turned purple.

Belle looked around for anything to smash the console but found nothing. During her search, she lost sight of the door and before she knew it, pain exploded in her body and she hit the floor. She felt herself being rolled on the stomach and a heavy weight settled down on her back. Chains were wrapped around her neck and she heard Curtis' voice hissing in her ear.

"I told you there would be hell to pay, bitch !"

He started to squeeze her throat with the chains, and Belle clawed at them, choking loud, squirming under Curtis, trying to get him off her, but the man sitting on her back was unremovable.

She tried crawling, but he pinned her where she had fallen, and still the chains got tighter. Her vision swam black, little stars flying from the edges of her sight toward the middle... She choked again... She was getting weaker and weaker... She wanted to get away but couldn't... Her lungs was screaming for air, her brain didn't get enough blood anymore... Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of the water... Belle thought confusedly that Nicholas had failed to protect her...

Then the weight was removed from her, the chains were removed from her neck and she heard a shuffle next to her. She rolled on her back, trying to get away from the confusion by her side. Her vision swam back, blurry and then clearer and clearer.

Holden and Curtis were fighting like cats, punching each others, and trying to strangle each other with the chain. She tried crawling again but the man she had knocked out stepped in her way, snarling down at her, barring her escape.

More crew members entered the room, and separated Curtis and Holden. Some helpt Holden up and others restrained Curtis, they held him down to prevent him from lunging at Holden and Belle again. Holden touched his nose, now bloody. He crouched in front her of her and he observed Belle to check her wounds. She had a deep red chain marks around the neck and Holden winced at seeing the links carved into her skin. He held his hand out to her.

"Come."

Belle didn't move, gazing at him with hostility and a little gratitude.

"You have no choice, girl." Holden continued. "Surrender. You're surrounded, in a hostile environment. I don't want to hurt you anymore and there is no dishonour in acknowledging a defeat such as this one."

He didn't even sound threatening, he didn't have to. Belle, Holden and everyone else in the room knew it.

Belle took Holden's hand and he helpt her up. He noticed she had large bruises on her forearms and palms. He glanced at her and his mask slipped for a second, and she could see he was sorry for her.

"The Captain ordered you to be shackled. I have to obey."

Holden gestured at one of the men to chain her. After it was done, he checked to see if it was not too tight, and he tore off Belle's bottom of tunic to make padding between the skin of her wrist and the unforgiving chain.

Curtis' face was distorded in fury, his teeth were bare, eyes wide, brows low and fists squeezed. He was held tight by three men.

Holden nodded, lips pinched and looking bothered. "This is a mess, this." He sighed. "We need to go now. The Captain is waiting for us."

The consoles started wailing, making everyone jump. The technicien rushed to it and started to examine. He started strumming on the console, swearing under his breath.

Holden sighed again, feeling tired and fed up, suddenly. He was glad to kill two birds with one stone : getting rid of Curtis, and removing the girl from the spaceship. He concluded that the Captain was right and inviting women onboard was inviting troubles.

Captain Pan was having a good day. He had joined his friend, Smee, in his brothel spaceship. Right now, he and Smee each had a drink in their hand and a girl on their lap.

They were chatting about the recent laws to ensnare people like them and how to break them better. Smee had worked for Pan a decade ago, and when Smee had gone to buy his own spaceship, he made sure not to turn pirate to avoid being a rival to his former captain. Smee had always been a coward, but an opportunist one. His flying brothel broke no laws, but if one or two of his "girls" were more assassins than whore, and if illegal merchandise found its way onboard... Well... It was not on purpose. And there were less dangers. Pirates didn't usually attack one of their kind, and Smee could dock his ship to others for a night of fun. Somehow it was thought that Smee was under Pan's protection, even if the two men had never struck such an agreement.

Smee and Pan were fondling the women on their lap when Holden came in with Belle and Curtis. Others who were with them waited outside, as their rank made them unwanted.

Curtis was still angry but he looked resigned. His two eyes were blackened, his nose was burst, and his whole face was covered in blood. His hands were scraped raw from giving punches, and his wrists were torn where the shackles had scrubbed him.

Holden's nose was crooked, and though washed, it sported dry blood in the gap between nostrils and upper lip.

Belle was looking like she had just been released from a torture cell.

Pan and Smee looked at them three and at each other, eyebrows up to their hairlune and the pimp told the captain "Well... I hope this is not the woman you want to sell me, Captain."

"Yes... Mr Holden, what happened ?"

Captain Pan's temper was getting icy calm, but everyone who knew him knew that it was the calm before the tempest. Holden calmly recounted the events, and by the time he was done, Pan was livid, and Smee was laughing his fat butt off.

"My my, she's a fiery one ! And with an unbroken spirit, it seems !" he added when he saw Belle's eyes flashing with anger at him. He winked at her. "Bring her over here"

Belle flinched and Holden intervened "Sir, you haven't boug-"

"Mr Holden !" Pan cut in, with a harsh voice. "I do not recall allowing you to speak freely. Obey."

Holden flinched and glanced at Belle, his eyes full of pity, before pushing her gently toward Smee and Pan. Smee grabbed the chain leash, and pushed the girl off his knees, before pulling on the chain to make Belle fall across his lap. He and Pan chuckled dirtily, and the pimp's hands wandered on her body. She struggled and Smee tucked the chain under his boot, and Belle had to lay across his lap, his thighs digging in her painful ribcage, arms straight to the ground and she felt the leather of his boot under her knuckles.

Pan leant sideway and patted Belle's butt, as one would pat a horse's rump.

"Ooooh nice" He commented. "She's going to make you some nice money."

"I don't think so. Have you seen her throat ? I'm not sure even medigel can prevent scars."

"Oh come on, don't tell me you have seen such pretty blue eyes before. A girl like that is worth at least a thousand credits !"

"I AM STILL HE-"Belle cut in but Smee spanked her hard. "OUCH !"

"You will speak when told to. If you don't, you will be punished." The pimp said.

"Go fuck yourself !"

Smee burst out laughing "Yes I will and you'll be the one getting fucked."

Pan joined him in laughter. "Yes she's really a fiery one"

Holden cringed. He was a bad man but his mother had taught him respect for his enemy, and this girl had fought valiantly and had earned his respect. It was becoming hard for him to see that.

As the two spaceships captains were discussing the price of Belle, one of Smee's man entered discreetely and muttered at his master's man.

"Really ?" Smee asked when he looked at his subordinate and glanced at Pan. "Rush wants to talk to me, dear Pan. Business, he said. He's there, waiting."

"Rush ? The smuggler ?" Captain Pan asked, a little surprised. "I didn't know he was a customer of brothel."

"He's never been to mine, anyhow" Smee answered. "Well, there's a first for everything. Bring him in."

The man got out the room. Smee pushed Belle off his lap, releasing her chain and she fell on her butt. She winced, and wrapped her arms around her knees. Pan glanced down at her, and leans backward. He signaled to Holden to leave the room. Holden obeyed, and nodded to Rush in acknowledgement as he walked by him on the door threshold.

Rush was smaller than what they expected, dressed up in black, with a vest whose hood he was wearing. His face was totally blurry, hidden by a anonymity collar. Such things projected a field of particles around the face of the person wearing it to hide it. Thiefs often had one, and smugglers too. He had a laser gun on a holster on his thigh and he was wearing a cane in his right hand.

Pan's experimented eyes noticed the counterweight under the handle, and realised it wasn't a walking stick, it was a weapon, a cleverly hidden weapon. The Captain grinned, that Rush was decidedly a worthy outlaw.

"Greetings Captains" Rush said, his strong accented voice surprising Smee and Pan.

"Greetings" Smee answered. He pointed at another armchair and Rush sat down, left hand on his knee, right hand on the handle of his cane.

Pan intervened. "There's no need for anonymity, here, Rush. We're amongst ourselves."

"The reason I am so good at what I do is because I never show my face. Never."

The reply came, short, barely curteous. Smee nodded, accepting the answer. Rush was rumored to be paranoid, hard-to-contact, and very expensive to hire but damn efficient and heartless. He knew what he had to do and did it no matter the circumstances.

Smee leant forward, forearms crossing on his knees. "You said you wanted to discuss business ?" He said.

"Yes. I'd like to buy a woman."

"You know... It's more... women to rent, here. They're not for sale. It's a brothel, Rush. Not sex slavery. I could recommend you some names, if you want to buy a woman."

"I want her." Rush pointed at Belle.

"My prisoner ?" Pan asked, surprised.

"Your prisoner." He confirmed.

"She was to be mine !" Smee intervened, a little vexed.

Pan lifted a hand, signaling Smee to shut up and let him talk. He leant forward too, in interest. "Why do you want her ?"

"Not telling."

"If you want her, you'll tell me."

Smee frowned, not liking the way this was all going. He was supposed to get the girl, he was supposed to have all the cards, and he was on his territory.

Rush answered Pan with a lie, easily passing his lips. "I was hired by her family to get her back."

Pan leans backward, the picture of confidence, and sneered. "I don't think so, Stiltskin."

Smee and Rush's face snapped toward Pan, who added in a voice full of hatred. "I guess you forgot me ? Pity, huh... A heartless man always forgets his victim, I've heard..."

"Who are you ?"

"You killed me. You killed her ! You are responsible of the death of everyone, Stiltskin !"

Rush snapped and slammed his hand on the desk, sounding enraged. "Who the fuck are you ?"

"Look into my eyes, and tell me yourself !"

Pan got up and got into Rush's face, allowing the smuggler to have a good look at his face. Rush did what Pan asked and froze, the blue of his pupils transporting him back in time, back when he was on earth, back to his lab in the homeworld command...

"Jones !"

"Yes" Pan - Jones - hissed.

"K.. Killian Jones ?"

"Yes."

"I.. I thought you were dead !" Rush got up and walked backward, as if to escape this man from his past, like a ghost come to haunt him. His cane fell on the floor, useless in his loose hand.

"I thought I was the only survivor... But no. Imagine my surprise when I realised your corpse weren't amongst the others' ! But I found hers, Stiltskin. She didn't deserve to die."

"Noone deserve to die." Rush confessed, looking down.

"Let's take a break for a moment !" Smee exclaimed as he got up. "You obviously know each other and you have some hardship, fine. BUT. You are on my ship. Rush is a guest of mine, just as you, Pan. He came to discuss business. I have no grief against him."

Unfortunately, Pan was panting from rage. He snarled.

"The girl is still mine, Smee ! He wants her, so I'm going to keep her ! I'm going to keep her and I'm going to end her - painfully, it'll last long. She'll suffer, Stiltskin, I swear to you she'll be in pain forever !"

A roar from anger came from behind Jones and Belle collided with him. Jones fell forward on the seat on which Rush was sat.

Smee jumped to his feet and grabbed Belle by her hair. With a big wave, he projected her toward the wall and Belle hit it at full velocity. She rebounded against it and fell on her side, and didn't move.

Rush grabbed Jones by the collar and punched him hard. He heard the pirates' teeth rattle with grim satisfaction, and Jones' face snapped toward the right.

"I'm leaving with the girl, Scum !" The Scottish brogue burnt Jones' soul with hatred and it propelled him back into the moment.

The pirate shook his head to clear his thought and he violently pushed his assailant backward. Rush's back smacked against the wall with a loud thud, which made him wince and snarl in anger. The smuggler growled and with a foot on the wall for impulse, he lunged at Jones again and tackled him to the floor.

Rush used the few seconds of Jones being shaken from the impact to straddle his chest. He straightened, and lifted his fist in a haymaker above his head. He was tense, his teeth showing, pupils small and focused, features deformed by wrath. He brought down his fists right into Jones' face, and was rewarded by a gush of blood from the pirate's nose. Rush grabbed the man by the throat and started to squeeze.

Smee brought himself to his feet, aching all over, then grabbed Rush from behind by his clothes, and tried to jerk him away. Rush resisted with all his might and will but he ended up being unsaddled and pulled off Jones.

Smee fell onto his back, and Rush fell onto him, the smuggler's back connecting painfully with his chest. The pimp encircled him with his arms, the right around his chest, the left around his shoulders. He tried keeping Rush down, tightening his arms as much as he could, but maintaining the tension of his hold was hurting. Rush was struggling like a cat in water, trying to escape. Smee did his best, but a very painful cramp struck his left arm and his hold loosened a little bit.

Rush pushed the left arm violently off him, and literally sprung up to his feet, his eyes seeking Jones. He was still on the floor, his body still but his forearm was twitching. Rush smirked grimly, advancing on the pirate's fallen body, planning on ending him to free Belle from the shadow of his past. He glanced at Belle.

She had fallen by the door, and she was awaking... She had pushed herself to the wall, and was slowly pushing herself to all fours to get up.

Unfortunately, the sound of their fight had informed Holden and the three men outside that there was trouble inside. They barged in, and froze. Holden swore under his breath.

Part of the room was a mess, the furniture overturned or broken. Smee was curled up on his side, face bloodied and clutching his arms against his chest ; the visiting Captain, eyes closed, nose almost caved in, and the visitor with the blurry face standing over him, hood fallen and blood on his fists.

Rush jumped toward his cane, and picked it up. With a flick of his thumb, the counterweight slid down to the end of the stick and he hit Jones in the back. The Captain howled in pain and fell onto his side, twisting on the ground.

Smee's and Jones' men growled and cracked their fists, obviously ready to beat Rush, who prepared to fight for his life. They stepped toward him. Holden exclaimed : "Stop !"

He looked around for Belle and saw her on her knees, getting up slowly. In his culture, fierce warriors were praised and respected, and what he was seeing was defiant and strong enemies. They deserved deference. Holden didn't know what to do. On his planet, considering the situations, they'd be granted their escape. But here... Holden didn't know what to do. This hesitation was his loss.

Rush drew his laser gun from his holster and shoot the three men down. He aimed at Holden, who didn't move. For him, the smuggler had earned the right to kill him, as he hadn't been able to defend himself. He raised his hands in surrender, and waited calmly for death.

"Stop..."

Rush turned to Belle. "What ?" There was surprise in his voice and though she couldn't see his features through the blur field, he was looking surprised too.

"Do not... k-kill him." She said weakly.

Rush pointed at Jones without looking at him. "He's one of Jones' men ! Belle, he deserves to die !"

"He... He protected m-me..." She swallowed with difficulty, she was looking so weak.

"Belle..." He pleaded, free hand palm up toward her and he made sure the gun never pointed at somewhere else than Holden.

"Plea-please... Do... not..."

"Fine !" Rush sounded exasperated, but he complied. Truth be told, he thought the more he killed now, the less he'd have to kill later. It was just a delay the man was granted.

Suddenly, Smee grabbed Rush's foot and pulled, trying to make him fall. Rush was definitely unbalanced and in the commotion, he dropped his cane and shot him in the guts. Smee yelped in pain and let go of Rush to roll away, hands pressed to his abdomen, curling up once more and crying in agony as blood slipped through his clutching fingers.

Holden moved out of the way to the door and spun largely around Rush. The smuggler turned around, not wanting to be caught unaware or be stabbed in the back. Holden knelt by Jones' side and took his pulse. The pirate was moving more and more, obviously awaking. Seeing that Rush was staring at him, Holden pointed at Belle.

"See to her, I'm not going to prevent you from leaving. You let me live. The least I can do is let you escape."

Seeing that Rush was unconvinced, he added "I'm from Planet Heshima."

Rush nodded, sheathed the gun, picked up his cane once more and walked to Belle. He crouched by her side and asked her gently.

"Can you walk ?"

She turned to him and he winced, happy she couldn't see him clearly. She didn't look like she'd appreciate being pitied. Her encounter with the wall had left her with a nasty bruise on the right side of her face. Belle nodded sharply, and started to walk forward with small steps toward the door. Rush followed, his arms spread around Belle one foot behind her, to make sure that, were she to fall, he'd be there to catch her. The young woman was so focused on making it to the door, she didn't notice him.

Rush picked his cane up quickly and they left the room. His right knee was aching like a bitch but he forced himself not to pay attention to his pain and focused on their surroundings. He had no doubt Jones would be on their heels soon, and he wanted to be on the Baelfire before the pirate was operational. Smee's men were mostly technicians who were in the engines rooms, and the girls on the ship could defend themselves. However most of them weren't there from their own volition, so when Rush and Belle walked past one of them, she turned a blind eye, or even gave them signs of approval. Rush thought it was sad nobody attempted to rescue them. He asked several of them to spread the word that Smee was down, and if they wanted to flee, now was probably a good time.

However some of them were also faithful to Smee and hearing their boss was either killed or wounded, they went to rescue him.

Rush and Belle finally emerged from Smee's spaceship and they took a deep breath. At least Rush did. When Belle tried it, her wounded ribcage contracted painfully and she bent forward in abject pain.

He grasped her bruised elbows and she winced.

"Sorry" He said, letting go of Belle. "Let's go back on the ship, Belle, we can treat you there."

They started walking again, until a yell stopped them.

"STILTSKIN !"

Thank god they were in a quiet corner of the planet, a little one, full of people wanting to be and stay discreete. Smee had had his ship landed next to a city walls. Fights and arguments were common so a man yelling another's name was not a fact worthy to be noticed.

Rush turned around and saw Jones charging out of Smee's spaceship, his sabre unsheathed, and looking like he knew how to use it. He sighed, suddenly feeling every hours of the week he hadn't slept, and his knee hurt like a bitch. The counterweight of his cane was still at the bottom tip and he tightened his hold on the handle, ready to fight. He glanced backward to make sure Belle was far, which she was not, and in less than a second, he decided to take the brawl with Jones the furthest away he could from her. She didn't need more hurt befalling her.

He lifted his cane, advanced on Jones, and met him before Jones could reach them. Sword collided with cane forcefully, the cutting edge not even notching the material of the walking stick.

The weapons rebounded against each other, and the two men circled around one another, seeking an opening. Rush could see the pirate's posture was perfect, a bit impeded by the earlier, but Jones was holding his sabre at chest height, right leg forward, slightly bent at the knees, and left arm behind his back. His face was a definition of the word contempt.

Jones attacked, aiming for the throat, and Rush barely had time to hit away the sabre with his cane.

The smuggler made use of the blade momentum to try to attack Jones, thrusting the stick forward toward the pirate's face, but Jones parried with his other hand.

The captain counter attacked, trying to brutally hack Rush, but the smuggler jumped backward. The tip of the blade tore Rush's Tshirt open. Jones chuckled, and jumped into action, attacking endlessly. He had realised Rush couldn't swordfight and he wanted to make the most out of it.

Rush could only parry awkwardly, or dodge. He made sure to stay a moving target. As long as he was in motion, it was more difficult to hit him. Yet, the Captain was way too skilled with a blade for Rush to be able to do any risposte or counter attack.

The fight was way too quick for Rush to take the few seconds to unsheathe the laser gun strapped to his right thigh. He was in survival mode, acting out only on nerves and adrenaline.

Jones looked enraged but his eyes were focused. He was playing with the smuggler like a cat with a mouse. Jones feinted right and attacked on his left, targetting Rush's right leg in a perfect fente. Despite Rush's jump backward, he touched precisely and the laser gun took a bad hit. A spark and a little smoke announced its death.

"Fuck !" Rush exclaimed, anger in his voice.

Jones smirked grimly and pushed his advantage, lunging forward repeatedly, forcing Rush to walk backward each time he attacked. He made sure the smuggler went wherever Jones wanted, by attacking left and right each time Rush attempted something to spin around him. Finally Jones got his enemy right where he wanted : cornered at the angle between two adjoining small buildings.

The pirate Captain just put himself en garde and waited for Rush to regroup. He smiled sarcastically, knowing he had the upper hand. He even stomped his foot on the ground to encourage Rush to attack him.

Rush was totally out of breath, his cane held like a sword, at the ready, trying to discreetly observe his surroundings to see if anything could be used against Jones. The pirate waited patiently, smiling smugly. Rush decided to talk to win some time.

"How did you know? The blur field..."

"Your voice ! Your fucking Scottish accent. You must be the only one in the whole galaxy I've heard speaking with such a crappy accent !"

"And... on Avonlea ? Who tipped you about the elkium ?"

Jones cocked an eyebrow. "What do you know about the elkium on Avonlea ?"

"It was mine !" Rush snapped.

Jones chuckled, and held the blade high, then flicked it down in a mock salute. "It was yours ? Well irony is everywhere. We were destined to meet."

And Rush didn't think it was a good idea to mention the attack on the way to Avonlea. No need to give Jones any clue to what his own spaceship looked like.

"I'm going to take my elkium back. And Belle too." Rush informed Jones.

"You're welcome to try."

"Maybe not now, not in the next few months, but the elkium you have taken from me will come back to me."

"You seem to think you're going to survive this ?" Jones just couldn't believe the nerves of Rush. He was dominating the whole fight and they both knew it.

Rush nodded and grinned at Jones with a look of 'I know something you don't'. "Oh yeah I am going to survive."

And a stone connected with the Captain's skull, curtesy of Belle. Weak as she was, the hit wasn't very strong, but strong enough to unbalance him and make him see some stars. Rush lunged forward, his cane making a half circle before striking Jones in the belly. The pirate fell on the ground, breath cut and coughing loud.

Rush staggered a little, then put his hands on his knees, catching his breath too. He said "I've got to finish this, Belle. Don't look."

He walked to Jones, and readied himself to bash his skull with the cane, but the pirate brutally struck Rush in his bad knee with his foot. It sent the smuggler howling in pain and down to his knees, clutching the handle of his cane tight. The pirate raised himself on his knees too and the two men glared at each other, hatred and fatigue mixing in their eyes.

Belle started to look around for another stone or anything to hurt Jones.

Jones raised his sword and attacked Rush who parried with the cane and jabbed Jones in the mouth with the other fist. Jones bent backward and then came back with a powerful punch which sent Rush backward, almost on his ass.

The smuggler managed to stay on his knees but his head was dizzy. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a shiny blade descending on him and he raised the cane in reflex. The cane was enough to deflect the direct hit but not enough to stop it. It ended being stuck under the sabre, and forced Rush to keep his arm straight.

Jones grinned victoriously, knowing Rush just didn't have the physical strength to unstuck his cane from under Jones' broadsword.

Rush tried, though but he could only shake his arm upward and tug at it uselessly backward. He glanced at Belle and shook his head slowly at her, asking her silently to leave him there and save her life.

Belle shook her head back and saw another stone that could be used to attack Jones again.

Jones bent forward, leaning even more weight through his sword onto Rush's cane.

Rush smirked at Jones and his thumb flicked on his cane handle tip. The short blade attached to the handle hidden in the first fold of the cane got free, and the longer part of the stick fell down uselessly.

Jones' sword half buried into the ground, and Rush's dagger leapt upward. The sharp blade cut through skin, flesh and bones. Jones fell backward heavily, leaving his right hand clutched to the handle of his sword.

Both men were equally shocked. They stared at the severed hand.

Then Jones looked at himself, and saw blood under him, on his clothed and on Rush's clothes. He raised his right arm - it weighed less than what he was used to - and saw a stump where he was expecting his hand. His shocked brain processed the information and pain hit him. Pain as he had never imagined he could feel. His head became suddenly dizzy and he was warm and cold in the same, then he felt his front hit the ground and he saw only blackness.

Rush turned toward Belle, and slowly pressed a finger against the collar at his neck, dissolving the blur field, and the features of Nicholas von Stiltskin appeared.

Belle and Nick look at each other, and he got up with difficulties before Belle's arms wrapped around him in a hug. He managed not to fall and hugged back as gently as he could, minding her injuries.

"We need to leave" He said in a pained voice.

Belle let go of him, stroking his arms down. Nicholas picked his cane up, and reassembled it with its handle. As an afterthought, he picked up Jones' hand and sword. He knew medigel could reattach the fallen limb and he wanted to disable the man. It was cruel, but after what Belle had undergone, it was fair to Nick. And maybe he could exchange it against his elkium.

Together, they walked back to the Baelfire, Nick limping heavily on his cane, Belle walking slowly and awkwardly.

On the ramp of the flying brothel's hatch, Holden, Smee's men and hookers watched them leave, not one of them attempting anything to prevent them to.

Once the smuggler and Belle were out of sight, Holden ran to the fallen pirate and picked him up. The blood flooding out had trickled down to a slow stream, but the blood pool under Captain Pan was quite impressive.

He saw the smuggler leaving holding the hand and the broadsword, and he just shook his head. He knelt by his Captain and picked him up. Holden tucked his shoulder under Jones' and trailed him toward Smee's spaceship.

He heard a spaceship taking off, an old transporter, he saw it flying over the Roggers who was a bit further down the field, and under his wide eyes, the old transporter opened fire on the Roggers.

The ship started exploding all over and the transporter left, leaving the Roggers burning and blowing up.

Holden shook his head sadly, hoping some of the Roggers crew members could save themselves. He escorted his Captain inside, hoping Smee's ship had a good supply of medigel to heal Pan.

Queen Ina's Annihilation was currently hovering over the small planet situated at the coordinates L558H12369P296374. It was a shitty little planet, barely legal, but they were paying their taxes and despite the probably prohibited ongoing activities of its inhabitants, it was calm, so Ina didn't trouble herself with it.

The burnt remains of a ship rested just outside a city, and the traces of two ships' fast taking off laid by it. A spy satellite had reported the explosion and analysts had forwarded this piece of information to Queen Ina because it was a transporter who destroyed a pirate ship. Transporters weren't supposed to have canons, and analysts knew the Queen Admiral wanted to be warned if a ship was able to do something it shouldn't do. Thus, Admiral Queen Ina found herself in that shitty hole and from what her guts were telling her, this whole mess had one name all over it : Rush.

Adding canons to transporters was a major change, nearly impossible. So it was Rush.

Admiral Queen Ina's cheek twitched. She was close. So close. She had never been closer. Rush had been there two days ago, never had she been on a crime scene signed Rush fresher than 7 days before.

She could see blood stains on the floor. They had been analysed but they came back listed as unknown. Queen Admiral Ina seethed and crossed her arms angrily. Damn Rush. It probably wasn't his blood, Rush was too careful. Her eyes narrowed as her team inspected the destroyed spaceship. She would have him. She would catch him. One day.

Holden was in the corner of Smee's office. He was discreetely watching over his Captain. Captain Pan was melting the elkium he had stolen from Rush. Captain...Pan. The smuggler had called him Jones. Captain Jones ? Holden was a little bit confused.

He guessed that it wasn't even Smee's office anymore... Smee had agreed to let Captain Jones govern his ship, and had slid down to being his first lieutenant, his right arm, while Holden well... he wasn't really happy to see Smee take his job, when he had made no fault. He had respected his values, and got punished for it. Meeting Rush and Belle had reminded him of his roots. But for now, he'd bid his time, awaiting for Smee to fault.

When he saw his Captain holding a perfectly formed elkium hook to graft to his stump, muttering under his breath that Stiltskin could try to get his elkium back whenever he wanted and telling everyone his name was now Hook, Holden couldn't suppress a shiver, but he nodded and accepted the new name.

Nicholas Von Stiltskin was on his bridge, exploring his databanks on his console. He had walked Belle into the medbay as soon as they were out in hyperspace and had gently laid her down on the table tub. He didn't even have the heart to tell her what he had read on the body scanners but she had seen all the purple on it. He had activated the medigel tub in silence and watched her be frozen in it. The medigel would fix her body but Nick knew her mind would take longer to heal, which made him even more determined to get her off his ship.

So he searched into his databanks for a planet that would be perfect for Belle. Only she could decide she wanted to stay on a planet, he couldn't decide for her. It didn't mean that he couldn't bring her on planets that she would want to live on. The planet he was looking for was a planet of liberty. It needed to celebrate intelligence and wits. It must collect knowledge, and praise justice.

His databanks listed ressources and planets, allowed a search by ressource and the console made the list of planets nearby that had this ressource available, but he couldn't predict what government was in place, or if there was peace, or war, or whatever.

Nicholas pinched the bridge of his nose and laid his chin on his fist. He decided to do his search in another way. He logged onto the communication console, into the culture and information news and looked for planets on which no wars had been declared or fought in the last century.

He found two planets. One was a harsh dictatorship which ruled it out immediately. The other was a parliamentary monarchy. He looked into it. It was perfect. Brilliantly perfect. The planet was fair, egalitarian, and historically gatherer of erudition.

Its name was Kaala, and the Kaalaman Prince was seeking a fiancée, the news said.

Good.

All Nicholas Von Stiltskin had to do now was playing matchmaker. He had a small sad smile.

Yes. It was for the best, he told himself while stirring the Baelfire toward Kaala.

She needed to get off his Baby urgently.


	5. Episode 4 : The Beauty and the Prince

NVS - EPISODE 4

Nicholas Von Stiltskin was sleeping. It was quite a rare fact in general, but this time, it was not really of his own choice. His body had simply shut down where it was. It was understandable, after all, he had spent a week surviving on infusion and nerves, and now that he had gotten Belle back, all the adrenaline had left his body and he had felt only exhaustion. He just had time to put Belle into the medbay for thirty hours, and choose a destination before falling asleep.

So right now, he was sleeping on the floor, having passed out near the console he was working on.

And that was how Belle found him when her thirty hours of healing had been done.

She knelt by his side, observing him. He was looking relaxed but under his eyelids, his eyes were twitching and a muscle in his right nostril was contracting from time to time. Mostly, he was looking blank. She had read in novels that sometimes sleep made men look more innocent or younger, that was not the case with this one. He frowned and then relaxed, stretched a little and turned in his sleep. He rested his brow against her knee and sighed a little.

Belle figured he couldn't stay like that and she touched his shoulder briefly.

"Nicholas ?"

He turned his back on her with a loud growl. Her hand came to rest flat on his shoulder and she repeated "Nicholas ?"

She squeezed her hand and nothing but another growl. In near despair, she shook his hair, saying very loud and in a very anguished voice

"Oh my god, Baby's console is burning !"

He jumped onto his feet, bumped his hip in the console, yelped in pain and started bouncing around on the left foot, pressing his hand against his hip, and looking around haggardly, not really awake yet.

"Where ?"

Even his voice had not awoken, it was raw from deep slumber. He was looking around in a distraught way then at Belle, suddenly suspicious.

She shrugged, and grinned sheepishly at him.

"You were sleeping on the floor" She explained. "I needed you to get up."

"Why ?" He asked roughly, cutting her up.

She ignored him and finished her answer.

"A bed might be preferable, the ship is flying to the higher beings know where and you're still hurt."

Nicholas grunted. "Why you care ? Leave me the fuck alone !"

Belle sighed and held a peaceful hand up. "You have saved me, Nicholas. You are hurt because you rescued me. I have a debt to you."

"Well.. Be careful next time."

She smiled at this careless sentence, and its involvements.

"Come with me" She said. "Time for your medigel tub."

"I need to land my Baby first, and a medigel tube won't be necessary for some bruises."

Belle rolled her eyes. "You were sleeping fine with it flying"

"Her" He corrected sharply and with a glare.

She ignored the correction again but changed her sentence. "You were sleeping and everything was alright."

"I was not sleeping on purpose, Belle" Nicholas felt he had to be precise on that point. He was not a man to fall asleep in any place. She was not his keeper and must not watch over his sleeping habits.

"How can you not sleep on purpose ?"

He glared again and went to the console. He looked through it before selecting a small planet, and changed the flying to it. This planet was a calm one and they should be able to find a corner in which he would be able to fall asleep.

"You'll stay in your bedroom while I'm sleeping."

"I beg your pardon ?" Her voice was icy.

"Last time I slept, you rearranged my kitchen. This time I'm not taking any chances."

"Nicholas, this is ridiculous. You told me you haven't slept in 7 days. It's going to be a long nap. Be sensible."

He looked at her up and down, and shook his head negatively.

"If I'm sleeping, you're locked in."

"What if I need to pee ?"

Belle crossed her arms while awaiting an answer. She looked annoyed at him. And he just cocked an eyebrow and smirked.

"I'll give you a bucket."

She looked ready to punch him but the dried blood on his face reminded her of what he had done for her, and some kind of guilt got born in her chest. She could endure a little bit of discomfort for his peace of mind.

"Fine."

Nicholas was surprised. Actually, to say he was surprised was an understatement. He was flabbergasted to the last degree. He didn't think he would win this argument. A feeling of triumph bloomed in his chest like a flower, and it showed on his face. He was smug. Then he looked at her embarassed eyes and figured out why she had agreed.

"How about... I.. Take a shower while we're heading to that planet, then I'll grab a six hours nap. You should too sleep, anyhow."

Belle glanced at him, quickly, and back to the blinking screens of the console.

"It's a good idea."

Even she could recognise he was making an effort, like she did. Seems compromising first was a good way to make him bend. She filed this piece of information for later, and smiled at him.

Nicholas grimaced back, and awkwardly circled her, toward the staircase and into the bathroom.

Belle chuckled, and then sighed sobering up. She was a bit scared, to be honest. The last two times they had landed on a planet, troubles had found them. She wholly recognized that she had actively seeked them on Avonlea and it was a lesson learned now. It was more apprehension than fear, though. Not knowing what was awaiting them on that planet, it was for now a tiny bit overwhelming. She had always tried to be brave, but lately, her bravery had been stupidity and she intended to correct that fact.

She sat on the copilot seat and watched the hyperspace. She smiled at the beauty of it and she sat back, trying to relax. But she couldn't. She kept coming back to that moment in Smee's ship where all she was a pound of meat for those men. She had never felt so humiliated or dehumanized, and she never wanted to feel that way again. At least, with Nicholas, he was rude, he was an ass but he respected her humanity.

She kept reliving that fight that had cost the pirate a hand, he had shouted about Nicholas being responsible of "her" death, and from Nicholas' answer, there was more than one death he was apparently responsible for. It had sparked her interest... She could maybe just... ask him what it was about, considering the pirate wanted to torture her to death to get revenge upon those deaths. It was almost her business, after all. She didn't think Nicholas would share but it was a fact he wouldn't at all if she didn't ask at all.

So she waited patiently for him to come back, biding her time, and waiting for the right moment to. He was too on edge for now. While he was in the bathroom, she made a bowl of Paste for him, flavored with a strong dark green spice she didn't know. He came back, clean and smelling good for a change.

He had changed, and wore his regular gear again, jeans, boots, his two Tshirts and the waistcoat.

"Nicholas, we have a problem." She declared.

He immediately started to look around for smoke, leaks, beeps but all was good.

"No we don't" Nicholas answered. "All is fine..."

He gestured at the screens to show Belle they all read good.

"We can actually have problems that are not related to the ship."

Nicholas wasn't comprehending and it showed. "We're in deep space... I don't see which problems we could have that are not related to her."

"I have next to no... clothes... No book tablets..." She answered, crossing her arms.

"Oh. You still have your phone, right ?"

"Yes."

"Then call Herson and tell him to send your things. Post office, you know. Courrier, if you're rich."

"Oh. Good."

She took her phone out and called Jeff, reassuring him, telling him they were both okay. Jeff was angry then after hearing what happening, he was alarmed and relieved in the same time.

"Yeah I'll send your stuff over."

"I'll refund you." She offered.

"It's fine, I've never paid you for the work you did in my inn, anyhow. Where are you ? Oh Aston wants to talk to you !"

Aston's low and happy voice sounded in her ear.

"Hey baby ! Are you okay ? I am so worried ! It's good to hear your voice !"

"Hmm Hi Aston"

Nicholas made a face and rolled his eyes, before sitting in his captain chair.

Belle smiled politely, Aston was interested and she did not know how to feel about that.

"Wow I've missed you, darling. Where are you ?"

"I'm in... space. Nicholas and I had to leave quite precipitatingly..."

Nicholas snorted and Belle glared at him.

"And you didn't say goodbye..." Aston sounded like a kicked puppy.

"It was... a sudden decision, Aston. I had to leave my things."

"Yes I know, they are at my place. Come fetch them, my love."

Belle winced a little and Nicholas chuckled at her face. She glared again at him and answered Aston.

"I asked Jeff to ship them where we are going."

"Where are you going, Babe ?"

Belle looked at Nick and mouthed the question.

He answered "Kaala."

"We are flying to a planet named Kaala."

"Alright. When do I see you again ?" Aston asked.

Belle could not answer him properly. "I don't know."

"Come back to me, Belle."

"I don't know, Aston. I like flying with Nicholas, you know."

It was a lie, obviously, but while saying it, she realised part of it was true. She did like flying.

"I bet you'd like being with me better though." Aston chuckled in her ear and she could picture his cheesy smile.

"Maybe, Aston, maybe."

"Awesome. Let me know when you're in town. We'll go to the danceclub again and meet the buddies. And Gus has met girls you'd like, they read too, they read fashion magazines mostly, but they read like you do !"

Aston was just full of good will, Belle couldn't help smiling and think her teeth were going to rot from all the sugar Aston was breathing out. Her eyes met Nicholas' and he seemed to think the situation highly amusing.

"Aston, please" Belle started again. "I need to hang up. Bye."

She did before he could answer.

"Trouble in paradise, Belle?" Nicholas asked in a mocking voice.

She pocketed her cellphone. "What's between Aston and me is not your concern."

"Sure thing." He chuckled. "If they send your things today, you'll have them in one day or two."

Belle nodded. "Hopefully."

The Baelfire dropped out of hyperspace on autopilot. Nicholas pointed toward the windshield. "Look, Belle."

Belle turned. The planet Nick had selected to land on and sleep was a deep sand colour, with patches of grey and blue, indicating mountains and seas.

"It's beautiful !" she exclaimed.

"Yes. They all are from up here."

They exchanged a quick grin before Nicholas shook himself off of it and pointed the copilot seat. "Sit."

Belle obeyed and Nicholas manoeuvered the Baelfire through the atmosphear in softness, not tearing it through and landed his Baby in the shade of a mountain on soft sand. "There" He announced and changed some settings on the console. "Alright, so this planet has sand, water, food, magnesium, silver..." He didn't say the rest of the list outloud but concluded. "Useless. Perfectly useless planet."

"Nicholas.. I have a question. On Avonlea, there's a tunnel to get into the Atmosphear and queues... but you... just land on random planets without caring... Isn't it dangerous ?"

Nicholas turned to Belle. "Look, if I do that, it's because I must, or I have no choice. If the planets were more civilised, they'd have a tunnel. But as they don't, I just do how I must." Still looking at her, he added "and to answer your next question, it is illegal to pierce a layer when there's a tunnel."

"How do you know I would-"

"Because you're curious and you like to know everything."

And Nicholas managed to make it sound like the biggest default one could have.

Belle narrowed her eyes and retorded pointedly. "Once I have my tablet back, I will not bother you anymore."

"Heaven hears you."

Nicholas, at that moment, knew that if he were to look at her, he would see how much she wanted to throw something at him. He just liked pushing her buttons, maybe even too much for their sake.

"Time for a nap, then !" He grinned.

He got up and gestured for her to do the same.

"Take a glass of water and go to the bathroom." He advised and Belle looked at him like he was the stupidest ever.

"Of course, do you think I'm an idiot ?"

His expression told her that, yes, he thought so. Hers told him to fuck off. And she followed him up, having taken a glass of water. Nicholas escorted her to her cabin, waiting galantly as she busied herself in the bathroom and proceeded to lock her up in her bedroom.

Then he went to his and stretched up for a good nap. Six hours of bliss.

Unfortunately, it wasn't so. Meeting Jones had shaken him up and he had hidden him pretty well, despite the appearances.

The ghosts of his past yelled in his nightmares, screaming their accusations at him, calling him a murderer, a coward. He could see their bodies, in a row, he could still smell the scent of rotting stench, of burning meat... It was on that day that he had stolen the Baelfire.

He sat up brutally in his bunk, covered in sweat, eyes wide and lost, and scared beyond measure. He was breathing loud and fast. He racked his hand through his hair brutally, the pain on his scalp grounding him, and helping get back to the present.

Nicholas wiped the tears falling on his face angrily. He sat across his bed, leaning against the wall, calming his breath and knowing he wouldn't get sleep anymore. No need to lock Belle up for nothing.

He walked to her cabin, and unlocked it. He opened the door to tell her she was free to go but she was asleep.

Belle was on top of her covers, on her side, her back toward him. His gaze racked the curve of her round hips and he swallowed, looking down. He moved to leave but Belle turned and called him.

"Nicholas ?"

He froze.

"Are you alright ?" She asked him in a very soft voice.

"I'll be."

"Come in, Nicholas."

"Why ?"

"I don't know... I feel like you need a friend right now."

"I have no friend." He answered bitterly.

"Well... You have your passenger."

Belle smiled at him. "Come in, or don't. But the invitation is there."

He observed her one full minute, then shook his head.

"No." And after a beat, he added "Thanks for the offer."

Belle nodded. "I'm sorry you couldn't sleep, Nicholas."

He nodded back. "I'm sorry too. You're free, Belle. I'll be on the Bridge. We'll leave in... well as soon as I'm sitting in my chair."

"Alright."

He left. He left her there, watching the wall.

Kaala.

Kingdom of knowledge and justice.

Kingdom of magnificence and fairness.

A place where the Headcity was a fairytale castle, where Laws were voted by a parliamentary of people elected by the people, where the Royals came from a millenium old monarchy, and were diplomats of trades and politics.

Prince Lon had woken up early, to enjoy the sight of the sun rising over his future lands. He was standing proud and regal on his balcony, holding a warm drink in one hand, and a thick book in the other. He grinned happily and sat on the recliner, propping his feet on the balcony edge.

Dawn was rising, throwing its precious rays upon the lands of his ancestors. He could see the cultivated lands on the East of the castle, and the hunting forests on the West, still in the pre-dawn darkness.

The factured goods were either imported, either fabricated on the other hemisphere, far from the castle. His family had made sure every workers were treated fairly, and had everything he needed for a good life. Their hours were controled for them not to be exploited and educated was a must until their adulthood.

Kaala was an Empire planet but not controled by the Empire directly. When the Empire got born, a few centuries ago, the Emperor conquered the planets who didn't want to sign the federation treaty. The Kaalaman King from that time had seen the potential of the Alliance, and had signed amongst the firsts. The conquered planets were in direct control of the Empire through governors, whereas the signers were left with their own government. Since then, his family had added the Empire laws into their own constitution, and they were respected.

Prince Lon was utterly satisfied. His parents were ruling, and preparing him to rule. Now he was seeking a future wife. His parents had sent a notice for the planets to be warned that their son was seeking a bride. And so, Prince Lon was waiting for her, but in the meantime, he had a book to read.

Von Stiltskin landed the Baelfire in the headcity spacesport. Normally he'd have landed in a suburbian area before avoiding the headcity, but from what information he had gathered, Kaala was quite independant.

He was planning on being the perfect matchmaker between this planet and Belle. He would give her the grand tour. He had read about the planet on the communication console, and had suffered through the tourism portal and its numerous commercials to fish the information he needed.

Belle had stayed in her bedroom during the landing, so he pressed the audiocom.

"Belle ?"

A few seconds later, her voice echoed in the cockpit.

"Yes ?"

"We've landed. Time to go."

"I'm coming."

"Hmm... Belle ?"

"Yes ?"

"We're here for... for pleasure. You can wear something... not practical."

"I have only things from my planet. My 'not practical' clothes are on Avonlea."

"Ah.. Indeed they are. I ... I imagine we can stop by a shop to buy you an outfit ?"

Nicholas tried to sound as if this little addition to their program of the day wasn't a torture. Belle wasn't fooled and answered "Thanks Nicholas. I know this is not your thing."

"Indeed not."

"I really appreciate it."

"Just, hurry up."

Nicholas was not used to people voicing positive opinions of him and his actions. He was unsettled and didn't know how to react. So he figured up not reacting was better.

Belle arrived a few minutes later, dressed as relaxed as she could. She had small boots on, with brown pants and a blue top with short sleeves. She wore her hair up.

"Is that proper ?"

"Yes, I guess so..." Nicholas answered, scrubbing his neck nervously. "Let's go."

He pocketted Baby's remote control and checked if his cane was secure in his holster. He stroked its handle and one of the ship's console to soothe himself. "Let's go" He repeated, a bit calmer.

Belle smiled at him and left the cockpit toward the exit. Nicholas followed her, opened the hatch and closed it once outside, before locking it and setting all the alarms up.

There was a market just outside the spaceport. Nicholas didn't look at the local food - his safe food rule here for a reason - but instead looked for Paste powder and dehydrated packed food from brands he knew. He didn't see any of this on the stalls and figured he would have a better chance in a store.

Belle kept around Nick, not daring letting him out of his sight yet. He was weird, more pleasant than usual, and she sensed that it probably wasn't a good thing somehow.

He trailed in front of her, glancing back from time to time behind to check if she was still here. And she always was.

Then she saw some clothes that appealed to her.

"Nicholas ?"

He stopped and turned. "Yes ?"

She pointed toward the stall that sell what she was interested in. "I saw clothes I could buy."

Nicholas nodded. "Alright, fine. Go buy yourself some clothes, I need to buy food too. I'll meet you in about twenty minutes."

Belle smiled at him like she had never been happier and left. He walked to the nearest food store he could find, and ordered supply of Paste, he planned on doubling the amount he normally bought, then remembered Belle wouldn't come back with him and bought his normal amount. He paid for the delivery of the Paste bags to the safe of dock 322 in the planet's spaceport. Ok, now he just had to play guide, and in a few days, he'll leave her there, and he'll be back to his calm and silent space and his Paste, with no flavour. A little smile played on his lips before disappearing grimly and he walked out.

Belle was browing the clothes stalls, there had been several that had things to interest her and then, she had seen a stall offering new tablets with more features than her own, and afterward she had seen stall with small weapons and survival kits... and now she was in no place she recognised in the middle of the market, almost covered in bags to carry, and with a bank account newly emptied.

She tried taking the way back, as if recreating her walk from her depart point to here helpt. Well, it would have if Belle had paid attention to her steps, which she didn't do, and which went against the survival education her father had given her. She mentally insulted herself and groaned in annoyance. She needed to get a grip on her intellect and soon.

She figured she could ask her way back to the spaceport and wait by the baelfire for Nicholas to come back and yell at her. And those bags were becoming so heavy, and her arms were getting antsy and suddenly, it was as if the amount of people had doubled and Belle just couldn't stand staying there, she chocked a little and turned her way around to just.. walk away when she bumped into a hooded man with a dark body length cloak.

He turned around and looked at her, as if assessing her. What he had seen must have satisfied because he broke into a large grin and lifted his hood.

"Hello."

Belle took a proper look at his face and nearly took a step back. The man was handsome. He didn't look like the men of her planets at all, and his long curly hair made her wonder if that tradition to shave the man's hair was a wise one. He had grey green eyes under thick eyebrows, a straight nose and a full pouty mouth. He had a perfectly tailored beard, made out to look like it was messy. His face looked exotic and foreign compared to the men she was used to see on her planet.

Belle stuttered. "Hel-he-hello."

The man grinned wide, and bowed formally.

"I'm Lon."

At the name, people around them made a wide circle and looked at the man, staring and whispering between each other. Belle caught the name repeated several times.

"Ah damn" He said before flipping the flaps of the cloak over his shoulders and Belle couldn't help looking at him up and down.

He was muscled, clad in a white and silver formal uniform, with broad shoulders and a slim waist, long athletic legs that seemed not to end... Belle was... impressed. She had never seen a man so... drop dead gorgeous.

"Prince Lon." He took her hand and kissed the back of it.

"B. Be... Be-elle."

"Behelle ?" He looked unsure.

"Belle."

"Nice to meet you, Belle."

He grinned again and, looking down, saw her bags. He looked behind him and several men appeared.

"Please, carry the lady's bags."

"Oh it's fine" Belle protested.

Lon laid a hand on his chest as if wounded. "My parents will shout at me if they know I let a lady carry numerous and obviously heavy bags..."

"Oh." Belle let two men take her bags and she shook her arms in relief. "Thank you, kind sirs."

"But you're very welcome. Where shall we carry your bags to ?"

"Oh... Errr..." Belle blushed and looked down, embarassed.

Lon looked at Belle with a suddenly teasing grin. "Would you be lost ?"

Belle blushed even more. "Yes."

He chuckled...his low laugh sounding pleasing to her ears. "Alright. Where's the last place you remember ?"

"We were at the spaceport."

"We ? Oh. I am sorry, I didn't think you had a companion."

"I don't !" She said precipitingly.

"You... You said 'we'."

"He's my guardian. Not my companion."

"Oh." Lon's smile got even wider. "Even better."

Belle smiled at him, beaming. Lon continued. "The spaceport is huge and maybe your guardian won't have the idea of going there. How about you describe me your guardian ? I'll send my men to look for him and they'll bring him to the castle ?"

"The... The castle ?"

Lon nodded. "The castle where I hope you will accept my offer to lunch ? Or if you find me too bold, we could first share a drink at this little stall over there and wait ? Or I could serve as a guide... and... I see you have a reading tablet... Perhaps a private tour of the library could interest you ?"

"There's... real books ?"

"Yes." He grinned as if he had won the lottery.

"Alright ! With pleasure."

"Oh Belle..." He took and kissed her hand again. "It would be my pleasure, believe me."

At his kiss, at his gallantry, Belle could feel her heart fluttering happily, and she let herself be led happily.

On their way, Lon asked Belle to describe to a burly looking man, armed and serious.

"A middle-aged man, with fluffy hair down to his shoulders... Brown eyes, a bumpy nose... a beard..." She lifted a hand five inches higher than herself. "He's about this tall, narrow shouldered, he has bruises on his face and his lip is cut. He moves a bit awkwardly because his ribs are achy but he thinks he moves normally because he stands the pain." Belle rolled her eyes. "He wears blue trousers, dark shoes, green and white tops in two layers, and a green waistcoat. His name is Nicholas."

"Was the information the lady gave enough ?" Lon asked his bodyguard.

The man answered. "Yes. How does he behave ?"

Belle took a moment to think. "I think he'll be looking for me. He's sneaky, and smart. He's aggressive and he knows... how to fight. Oh ! And he carries a cane folded in a holster !"

The guard nodded. "I'll do my best, Lady, Prince Lon."

"I know you will, Ervin." Lon clapped the guard's shoulder in a friendly way and left. "We know you and your men are efficient."

Ervin took six men with him and left Belle and Lon with the two guards carrying her shopping bags. The Prince matched his steps to hers, offered his arm to hook hers and laid his hand onto hers. He described the local architecture, talking about the history of the city, the local traditions. Belle was fascinated. Their culture was rich, passionate about education and knowledge... and it was interesting. Lon's family kept a good guard of their people's happiness, and from chatting with him, she could see he was humble, and dedicated.

Finally, the Great Library was in sight. They entered it, the director came immediately and bowed to his Prince.

"Lady Belle would like to see the books, Director."

"But of course. The Prince's guests are honored and will be given a tour. This way, Lady Belle."

"I'm not a..."

The Prince squeezed her hand and winked at her with a teasing grin and accompanied her through the tour of the Great Library.

Von Stiltskin was waiting. And he was fed up. He had been looking for Belle more than one hour and she was missing. Again. And he was going to be rid of her because he was going to kill her. He liked thinking of killing her. It was like a cold caress to his burning anger. He was going to make her suffer and he grinned sternly at the idea. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed in annoyance. He was fed up with being annoyed. Since he had met her, he felt like he was angry all the time, even when piloting Baby. Usually, he was relaxed when alone on Baby, as good as he could try to be when on a planet, and this infuriating woman had managed to push all his buttons to get him as angry as he could. And yet sometimes... sharing was possible.

But right now, she was not there. He hoped she hadn't been kidnapped, though that would be her style. His face twitched in annoyance and he groaned in pain from the bruises on his face. He squeezed his fists and sighed again. He knew he had to investigate her disappearance. He hoped she was just lost, because he wasn't really in the physical state to beat someone right now.

He felt himself observed and looked around to check his surroundings and he spotted several men staring at him. He didn't like that at all. He hoped it wasn't linked to Belle but somehow he doubted it a lot. Of course she had to run into some problems. Only her could run into troubles on a planet dedicated to peace. Of course he'll have to get involved. He grunted inside and walked fast to put his back against a wall not to be attacked from behind. There was seven men heading his way and Nicholas broke into a cold sweat and he felt a drop running down the small of his back. Maybe if he did forego the beating and went directly to the stabbing, he could have a chance. Stab one, take his weapon, and kill the others. Fuck, he wasn't sure he could do it, but he'd die trying. No one took something that was his without consequences.

The first man came closer and smiled gently, which puzzled Nick.

"Are you Nicholas ?"

Von Stiltskin frowned. "Could be. Who's asking ?"

"Belle sent me." The man replied with a smile. "She's at the Great Library."

Nicholas relaxed a little but not totally. "Sounds like her."

"She got lost, and Prince Lon found her. We were send to find you while my Prince entertains your daughter."

"Wha-No ! I'm not her father."

Ervin looked sheepish and looked down. "My apologies, Sir Nicholas. If you could follow me, I'll lead you straight to her."

Nicholas nodded nervously. "Alright, lets go."

Ervin made an inviting gesture to incite Nicholas to walk with him and the other men escorted them.

Nick went instantly uneasy. It looked way too close to an arrest for his tastes and he growled slightly. Ervin glanced at him sideways.

"You look like an animal ready to bolt." The guard commented.

Nicholas sniggered a little, he was indeed getting ready to bolt. He slammed himself into Ervin, knocking him into another guard. He fled, jumping over the two of them and ran the fastest he could. His chest was hurting like a bitch, each hasty breath like a dull knife being rammed between his ribs, and his knee started acting up too.

Nick groaned in pain under his breath but kept on. The numerous alleys of the market were filled with people and he kept dodging and ducking to be able to go on his way. He tripped over a basket and fell heavily. Some people tried to help him up but Nick evaded them, and jerked himself up to keep on running.

He glanced behind, saw just the tourists and locals but no guards. He stopped running, panting loud and bent to massage his achy knee. He had blood on his tongue and teeth from his fall and his chest was killing him. He thought he had just bruises but he reconsidered that, maybe he had cracked ribs. He grunted in pain, eyes tight and his gasps turned into coughs, bringing a little puke in his mouth.

Suddenly, he saw through the crowd a flash of the guards' uniform and he grimaced. He muttered a swear word and turned around to run, though he was limping as fast as he could, away from them. Suddenly, pain exploded in his face, and he fell heavily on his back with a loud gasp and he blinked in shock. He saw the leader of the guards with a flat wide wood stick.

Ervin smirked slightly.

"Raise him up." He gestured to the other guards who were arriving, panting from the pursuit.

The men grabbed Von Stiltskin by the arms and pulled him up roughly to his feet. Nicholas was too stunned to protest.

"Sir Ervin ? I'm not sure he can walk."

"Tie his hands and ankles and carry him, then."

"Very well, Sir."

Ervin was promptly obeyed, and Nicholas found himself shackled, ankles together and hands behind his back. Two guards hooked an arm under Nick's arms and half carried, half pulled him forward. Nick couldn't find enough momentum to straighten one of his foot down to take a step.

The walk was fast and efficient, Nicholas powerless, but he was gathering his wit back slowly. He grunted again, drawing the attention of his carriers.

"Keep nice, man." One of them said. "You are soon arrived."

"Why am I arrested ?" Nick whispered amongst small whines of agony.

"You're not arrested."

Nick snorted and regretted it immediately.

"I'm in shackles, 'man'."

"That's because you have been disobedient. We told you you would have been escorted to your friend, and you just..." The guard seemed to look for a word. "...ran."

"Why have you arrested Belle ? Which law of your planet has she broken ?"

"None."

"Then why ?" Nicholas almost snarled.

"Our chief guard told you."

"It is a lie."

The man sighed in annoyance and didn't answer.

The little group finally arrived at the Great Library, a huge building of fair-coloured marble and silver.

Nicholas was "accompanied" in a big room filled from floor to ceiling with books and old scrolls. He glanced up and saw on the other side of the spacious room Belle and a man chatting.

Belle was smiling wide, her arm hooked with the man's, and he was grinning down at her, towering over her little form in a non-threatening way. Ervin made the men wait while his Prince and the guest were listening to the Great Library's director rambling about a scroll and its content.

Nicholas felt some kind of nausea come from deep within his twisting insides and he looked down, fighting it down.

Ervin made the men wait while his Prince and his guest were listening to the Great Library's director rambling about a scroll and its content. Both the Prince and the Lady were captivated and the man they had retrieved had his eyes closed and his face twisted in disgust. He let a few minutes before deciding they wouldn't be noticed by Prince Lon or Lady Belle and so he gestured to his men to bring the man named Nicholas forward.

Ervin walked to the Prince while his men stayed a few steps backward respectfully. He cleared his throat.

"Prince Lon ?"

The Prince turned and smiled at Ervin, then past him, and he froze, growing horrified. Belle was engrossed in the scroll, trying to comprehend the font of the writing on it with the help of the director.

"My gods, what happened ?"

At Lon's exclaimation, Belle looked up and saw Nicholas. She let out a cry and pressed a hand to her mouth. Nicholas opened his eyes, looked up at Belle and tried smiling a little.

"Hey."

Belle strode to Nicholas and pressed her hands to his face in a motherly way.

"What have you done, you idiot ?"

Nicholas snarled at her and she saw the blood on his teeth. She wiped it with the pad of her thumb. She had pity in her eyes and she listened to Ervin recollecting what happened in the market

"Nicholas..." She said quietly, with a bit of scolding in her voice.

Prince Lon ordered. "Bring him to the castle and have the doctor look at him. I think a medigel nap would do him wonders." He turned to Belle. "Lady Belle, I deeply apologize for what your guardian has undergone and we'll get him back on his feet in no time, but I am afraid you'll have to be my guest at dinner and for the night."

His smile was pleasant and hopeful. Belle looked from Nicholas to him and smiled back. "With pleasure, Lon. Can you ask your men to untie my guardian ?"

She let go of Nicholas' face with a last soothing caress, and a kiss on the brow.

Lon gestured nervously at Ervin to obey and Nicholas was free. He slumped forward and the two guards had to support him more.

"Call a carriage, it'll be faster."

Ervin nodded and they departed, leaving Belle, Lon and the director alone. The Prince signaled to the director to leave too and he was obeyed.

"He is a stubborn asshole, but I'm almost convinced he's a decent person, you know." Belle declared, a little uncertain.

Lon's lips twitched up and he cocked an eyebrow. "I see..." He chuckled a little. "At least, he's in good hands now."

He laid a hand on the small of her back and leant in. "I was serious about my offer to dinner tonight. You're welcome to stay the night, but a night at a hotel is possible. I don't wish to make you uncomfortable, nor feel pressured in any way."

Belle looked up seriously into Lon's eyes, seeing only kindness and goodwill.

"It is perfect, Lon. Dining with you sounds like a perfect idea and if it doesn't trouble you, sleeping at your castle... well... it is a good idea too."

"You know it means you'll have to take breakfast with me in the morning ?"

"Suddenly it sounds like a chore."

"Oh a chore. I see. Well, I understand you wouldn't want such a good compagny so early in the morning... It could ruin your guardian's compagny for the day."

Belle giggled. "You're unfair with Nicholas. He's not that bad."

"Oh ?"

"Alright, he's bad."

Lon and Belle chuckled together and grinned at each other like schoolmates.

The Prince bit his bottom lip and grinned seductively at Belle. "Do you know there is a section about the history of the planet ? It is said that King Alnior, my ancestor built a temple dedicated to love... And there's a little chaptel in the honor of his wife, of whom he was so in love he died one month after her. It is the most beautiful building of the planet. I could show you pictures and maybe even fly you there ? People in love bring poetry, flowers and wishes and puts them into crystal vases, and with the sunlight... It's gorgeous."

Belle blushed and looked down. "The way you describe it is gorgeous."

Lon tilted her head up and smiled at her sweetly. "How about we... go read some poetry ?"

Belle could only nod and followed him through the maze of the Great Library.

The flying ambulance flew over the crowd, Nicholas was onboard with Ervin, laid out on a small bunk. There was a medic present, and she put a plastic mask over his face. It smelled flowers and fresh air and soon he was out of it.

Belle and Lon arrived at his Castle a few hours later. The Prince had sent her shopping bags to their destination a few hours ago and he was carrying a bag of books he had offered her.

He had given instructions to the guards sent earlier to the castle to tell the maids to prepare a guest room for Belle and a pretty little non human alien politely saluted them and told them the golden and silver room was ready and could be invested at any convenient time.

Belle couldn't thank Lon enough and the Prince just grinned at her.

"It is a pleasure for me, Belle. I have to confess it is more for my pleasure than yours, but I can't bring myself to feel any shame."

Belle blushed a deep crimson and Lon chuckled pleasantly, a hand on the small of her back to lead her to her bedroom.

"I hope the room is agreeable to you."

It was. The room was big, as big as the whole first floor of the Baelfire, filled with luxuries. Walls were cream marbles with golden veins and silver linings and engraved statues of geometrical forms were displayed around the room. There were recliners, armchairs, and the biggest bed she had ever seen. On the other side of the room, huge window doors leading to a balcony with recliners.

"It's... it's more than I expected."

Lon puffed his chest up proudly. "You're a honored guest, Belle. My honored guest."

Belle blushed even more. "Lon... It's too much..."

"No it's not." He cleared his throat. "I'll leave you to freshen up and rest. We had quite the tiring day and I also suspect you want to peruse your new books. Whenever you're ready, Belle. Just go out and ask to see me, and you'll be guided to me." A moment of silence. "Of course, if you don't want to see me, you are free to go out. The gardens are flowery, the kitchens are always open... We have a library too and people will always be open to any chat. The librarian is a nice woman to chat with."

"Lon... I'd like to see Nicholas."

"Who ?" He looked at Belle a bit clueless for a moment. "Oh your guardian, of course ! Yes... yes... The medical wing can be visited at any time. And... According to your planet's customs, is it acceptable for you to spend time with me ? the two of us ?"

Belle nodded. "Perfectly acceptable. Nicholas cannot forbid me to do anything, anyhow."

"Yet he's your guardian ?"

"More a bodyguard."

"He's your servant ?" Lon asked.

"Not really, but..." Belle giggled a little.

"You care a lot for a servant, I like that. He seems to be your friend."

"I can't say we're friend, Lon, but... We have kept each other's back before."

"I see. A wise man from my planet said that a being's worth is not measured to how they treat a superior or an equal, but to how they behave with their inferior. And from what I've seen... you're worth a lot."

"Thank you, but I have to say he's not my inferior. We travel together. My father had asked me to fly me to a new planet and Nicholas is the pilot. He flew here, we come from Avonlea."

She chose not to talk about their "triffle" with the pirates.

"Quite the busy planet." Lon grinned and bowed respectfully. "See you later, Lady Belle."

"Thank you for your hospitality, Prince Lon." She curtsied in her planet's manner and grinned at him.

Lon left and Belle decided to take a bath, change clothes and visit Nicholas before resting and going to dinner. She didn't want to impose on Prince Lon. He had been more than pleasant and interesting and handsome and full of humour... She sighed in pleasure. She liked it here. Maybe she had found the planet for her. Maybe she could be happy there. Even if she lost sight of Lon, she could work in a library and lead a contented life. She smiled at the bedroom and skipped into the bathroom to take a warm bath full of flowery oils, something that she hadn't had since she had met Nick.

Belle entered the medical bay and met a small army of nurses and doctors. There were several corridors with closed rooms she assumed were bedrooms.

"Ma'am ?" A doctor said. "How can we help you ?"

"Hello, doctor. I'm coming to see my friend, a man brought here by sir Ervin in an ambulance, he was badly beaten."

"Yes yes yes... I see who you mean. Nurse ? Can you lead this Lady to room 54GF ?"

"Of course, doctor."

The nurse gestured politely at Belle to follow her. She led her to a closed her and entered the room. Belle followed her inside and saw Nicholas led out on a bed, a mask on the mouth, and medigel rubbed onto his naked chest and face.

"He's sleeping" The nurse commented. "Resting and healing."

"Is he going to be fine ?" Belle asked.

"Oh yes. He needs to be under medigel for 24 more hours and he'll be good to go. His clothes are being cleaned and we bathed him too. He'll be as good as new." The nurse petted his hair gently. "Should we shave him?"

Belle opened wide eyes. "I've never seen him shaved."

"He does have quite the wild beard. Maybe a trim ?"

Belle wondered why she was discussing Nicholas' looks. "You know, in 24 hours, you can ask him."

"Is he yours ?"

"Mine ?"

"Are you together ?"

"No. No !"

"Good."

Belle looked at the nurse, wondering what the hell. The nurse shrugged and grinned as she answered. "He's cute."

Belle opened wider eyes and offered. "He's single... I think."

The nurse smiled as if she had been given the best of gifts.

Belle smiled a little and stroked Nicholas' forearm in a friendly way before leaving.

Sunlight was filtering into Nicholas' bedroom when he opened his eyes. It was too bright for him and he closed them immediately. He raised slowly a hand to his face and rubs it slowly, surprised not to feel any pain there. He took an experimental big breath in and out and the absence of agony made him grin lazily and sighed in happiness. Now if only he hadn't forgotten to dim the spaceship's lights, his bliss would have been complete.

Then a mental freight train hit him. He was not on Baelfire. He was on a shitty peace planet to make sure Belle stayed there and he had been arrested and healed. He sat up abruptly and looked around for his clothes. He didn't see them but there was a cupboard.

He got up, the white tunic he was dressed in fell to his ankles and he had the unpleasant feeling of being encased in a granny's nightclothes. He chucked this tunic away and opened the cupboard. His clothes were there, clean and ironed. He dressed quickly, and the flowery scent clinging to them was overpowering.

An ajar door led to a bathroom. He had been cleaned but nature was calling. Then he saw himself in the mirror and he was clean shaved and his hair had been given a trim. And he nearly yelled in surprise.

It made him look years younger but that wasn't the point. He grunted in annoyance and did what he had to do before going out. He needed to find Belle as soon as possible and get a good explaination of what she had done, and the troubles she got herself in. He was about to go out and look for her when he heard voices getting louder : people were going down the corridor. He flattened himself against the wall by the door, careful not to let his shadow filter by the gap under the door to warn those people someone was hiding.

Nicholas listened closely to the conversation, the voices were hushed and angry.

"-knew ! I knew it !"

"How can this be ?"

"They can do everything."

"Could you... How could one guess..."

"That the tests results were fake ? No one !"

"Yeah..."

"They think themselves above laws, well we'll remind them they're not ! A hypocrital bunch ! That's what they are !"

At that point, they passed by Nick's door and he pressed his hand to his mouth and nose to stifle the noise of his breathing, but thankfully the two men didn't seem concerned about paying attention to who could listen to them.

"Don't get angry, it's bad for your heart."

A grunt. "Do you realise that they couldn't... We do it everyday. They could have set an exemple and no ! We have got to make it right. He was not destined to live."

"I realise that... but... now's too late."

"It's never too late to make things right. He's not fit to reign."

"Look, he's good, no ?"

"For now. He's a ticking bomb. He has to die."

"We cannot kill Prince Lon. We're not like that... There hasn't been a murder in over four centuries."

"It's not murder ! It's... protection. It's the right thing to do. And we need to organi..."

And Nicholas couldn't hear it anymore. He swore under his breath. This Prince Lon... The name was familiar and brought up pictures of books to his mind. The man at the library ! The man who was with Belle and of whom she seemed very fond of. Nick pinched the bridge of his nose to prevent the headache that was already threatening. Of course, she had to get smitten of the only man on this planet who was the target of a murder conspiracy. He had to warn them.

He laid his hands on the door handle and pressed it downward slowly and pulled the door open gently. He peeked left and right to check if the corridor was empty and got out. He closed the door in a similar fashion and tried to figure out which way to go. On the right, the corridor was turning right and away. On the left, the corridor wasn't as long and he could see a big sunny room. He decided to go left. Warning Belle and the Prince was his priority now.

He walked discreetely and crossed the hall.

"Hello."

Nicholas nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Don't be afraid, I'm a friend."

He looked to his left and saw a man in his fifties standing there.

"Who the fuck are you ?"

"A friend. You were brought here by Ervin, a friend's of Prince Lon. This means that the Office will soon take an interest in you. This means you're screwed."

The way the man pronounced "Office" told Nick there was a capital letter.

"What's the Office ?" Von Stiltskin asked.

"An abomination. You created a mess in town. They're in charge of checking if you're a nuisance to the Peace or not."

Nick frowned. "What ?"

"They're in charge of keeping calm and peace. You need to come with me, or your mind will be... examined. Not something you want to be done."

"I need to go."

"Look, I understand why you don't trust-"

Nicholas moved to leave but the doors leading to the medical wings opened suddenly, and two men burst in.

"The Office is on his way."

Nicholas recognised the voice of one of the conspirators, and he groaned. Maybe if he killed the three of them now, the threat would be erased and all would be good. The man who hadn't talked to him yet and who was really huge took a step forward and grabbed the front of his clothes.

"We're leaving !"

"The hell we are" Nick snarled, pushing the man away - or rather trying because the overly muscular man had quite a big fist and a tight grip. This man just tightened his grip even more and pulled Nicholas forward.

"Let go !" He growled loud.

The first man pushed Nicholas and the big one just lifted him up on his shoulder like a fireman carry. Nick started to struggle hard, and he kneed him in the solar plexus and manage to slide back down on his feet. He raised his fists to fight - his cane wasn't in the cupboard of his bedroom.

The third guy had gone out at one moment - Nicholas hadn't noticed. He reentered the room.

"Guys ! They're coming, like now !"

The big man slapped Nick's fists out of the way and grabbed him again. He pulled him into another hallway than the one his bedroom was, and got behind him. He wrapped an arm around Nick's face to prevent him from talking and another around his torso and arm to keep him from moving. The first guy grabbed Nick's ankles to keep him still.

Nicholas tried to struggle but the third guy swatted his abdomen and gestured to him to listen.

Nick heard the doors opening and then three voices.

"See what he had ?"

"Yes... A cane."

"The scanners said there was a blade in the cane. The man is dangerous."

"He's Lady Belle's protector, it is normal he is armed."

"It's a blade. It's an aggressive weapon."

"Who's Lady Belle ?"

"The girl Prince Lon found on the market."

"Oh I see."

"You've seen them last night ? On the gazbo ?"

"Yes, they walked around the gardens too, holding hands."

"So we agree ? The guardian needs to be pacified."

Nicholas tensed and paid total attention.

"We don't need to go the total way... I mean, if things got serious between the Prince and the Lady... We don't want to provoke an incident."

The voices trailed off. The three men relaxed their grip a little, after all, Nick was totally focused on the chat.

"God..."

"Ssshhhhh" The huge guy hissed.

"Where is he ? Where is he ?"

Obviously they had discovered his absence.

"We need to look for him"

The men from the Office left, ran out to warn guards of their missing guests.

The three men released Nicholas totally and looked at him expectantly.

"They're going to kill me ?" Nick asked.

"Worse."

"I need to warn Belle. I don't want her to be hurt by those assholes."

"Impossible, she's with the Prince, and now you're going to be looked for." The big man answered.

"The Prince you plan on killing."

"You heard."

"I need my cane."

"the Office has it."

"I need it back."

"You need to leave."

"You are murderers."

"Absolutely not !"

The absolute conviction with which the man in his fifties had answered surprised Nicholas.

"I'm not leaving Belle here." Von Stiltskin said in a low and stern voice

"She is safe. You're not. And the Prince keeps her in sight. You know, with him... I mean, she didn't display any... bad behaviour, unlike you. So all is good for her."

"Yeah except you want to kill the man who protects her and the governement wants to poke me and I have to leave with you if I want to keep my brain whole."

The third man had a humourless smile. "Look, I think the first thing is to get you safe. If you think you can go out to safety on your own, go ahead. But then, you can't get back in to see your ward."

"And I suppose you can ?"

"Of course."

The third man laid a hand on his chest. "I'm doctor Allen. The big guy behind is guard Herod and the old one is a cook and his name is Jaumet. And you are Nicholas Von Stiltskin."

"Yes"

"We need to leave", Herod interjected. "It's.. going to be really not safe in a few moments."

"Jaumet." Allen said. "Let's go by the kitchen, it is safer."

"Good idea. Herod, go back to the guards quarters and make sure to take the investigations far from the kitchens. Allen, you stay here. Call the nurses back ? It's nice when the place is empty but the more people they have to interrogate, the more time the guards will lose doing that." Jaumet ordered.

Herod answered in an amused voice. "I will make sure to be as thorough as possible during the interrogations."

"Nicholas ?" The cook looked at Von Stiltskin. "Let's go."

Nick followed Herod and Jaumet out, and Herod went his own way.

Jaumet led Nicholas through endless corridors.

"Once out of the Castle, where will we go ?"

"You'll be evacuated to a safe place."

"I don't like being jerked around like a hot patato."

"What's a patato ?" The cook asked.

"Irrelevant. The answer should have been : 'No Nicholas, here's what's going to happen' and a list of what is going to actually happen."

Jaumet cocked a sarcastic eyebrow. "You should stop behaving this way, you'll only draw the Office faster."

"Shut up and lead the way, cook."

The said cook smirked and walked again, Nicholas following.

"I really need to talk to Belle."

"Later. We actually thought of having you gatecrashing a dinner."

"I'm not doing anything for you."

"No, of course. We just saved you, after all."

"I'm not convinced of that" Nick sneered.

"I don't care of this fact, as long as you go to the safe place."

Nick stopped again. "This insistance of yours to make me leave the castle is suspicious."

"You're free to go. When you realise you need to go out, I'm in the kitchen. And by the way, if you talk to anyone about what you've seen... The Office will be the least of your worries. Who knows works with us ?" Jaumet winked in a cruel way and left Nicholas on his own.

And Nick had no idea of where to find Belle in this gigantic castle. She could be anywhere, with anyone and he was there like an idiot. He allowed himself a moment to reflect, hidden in an empty boudoir. This time he was in a mess not of his own making, torn between an equivalent of inquisition and murder conspirators, and to be utterly honest, he had no fucking clue of how, or why. Being lost was not a emotion he liked feeling. It reminded him too much of how he was after the massacre of his crew fifteen years ago.

He breathed slowly in and out, and decided to take action. Maybe going out of the castle was a good thing. Belle would probably like to go back to the Great Library again, he could wait there until she came and he could talk to her there, tell her about the murder attempts on Lon's life, and she could tell him. The Prince would then call off the Office and Nick could leave the planet. Even to him, it appeared shaky.

He shook his head. First thing was to get his weapon back and know his enemy. And... Another mental freight train hit him hard. His phone. He could use it to call Belle. His phone was probably with his cane. He had no idea of where they were, but he figured visiting the Office's office - he snorted at that one thought - was a good idea.

He needed to find the building of their administration. Was it inside the castle or outside ? Common sense said it was outside, in towncenter or near it, to be able to bring in prisoners... well if it did work like inquisition had during earth medieval times. He couldn't imagine how prisoners could be taken here. From what he had seen, he himself was the most troublesome being on the planet.

If he let himself be caught... No. Bad idea. Very bad idea. There was no guarantee he would be brought into their headquarters. He needed to go out and get arrested outside ? But then no guarantee either. Maybe he could just go out and ask for his way ? Nicholas sighed, feeling very much like leaving this planet to its problems, Belle to her love story and he to his researches.

He started with a resolute step, walking down the staircases and corridors, following the general corridors by which Jaumet had gone. A smell of cooking was perfuming the air, and Nicholas found the kitchen. He scanned the busy room, a dozen persons were all occupied cooking and he located Jaumet on the left, stirring a cauldron with a big ladle. Everyone seemed so busy, no one noticed him tiptoeing by the wall, keeping his back to the back and observing everyone.

Jaumet looked up and smirked at Von Stiltskin. He nodded toward a door and got back to his work. Nick walked to it and slipped through.

Sunlight fell on him, bright and warm, making him regret going out. He waited a few moments and walked down a little path, leading to a door in the enclosure wall of the castle estate. The door was not locked when he turned the hand but when he opened the door, two guards' back faced him. Von Stiltskin narrowed his eyes, and just walked out with a confident stance and proud air. After all, if you looked like you knew what you did, no one questioned it. Nicholas got away, not hearing a noise or a protest from the two guards. He grinned and walked away.

He needed to change clothes. The guards knew what he was dressed like. He crossed the numerous streets to the market place, and then made his way to the spacesport. He took the Paste from the docking space's safe and realised all of Belle's clothes had arrived from Avonlea and were in it too. He almost triggered the Baelfire's alarms when he typed all the alarms codes, as the remote control had been taken with his phone and his cane. He decided he would give pain. Pain and agony. No one stole from him, no one touched Baby and these assholes had managed to do both.

He loaded everything and sighed heavily, wanting to just go and fly away. Belle could and would be happy here, if only her Prince wasn't in danger. He sighed again, and went up to his bedroom, into his cupboard. He decided to dress simply : black jeans and black shirt. He decided for a vest with a hood too to hide his face.

Then Nicholas logged onto the tourism site on the communication console of the spaceship and browsed the info to check for the address of the Office's Headquarters.

He smiled, satisfied, when he found it was in the towncenter. Not having his waistcoat meant no notebook to write the address in but he committed it to memory. He read a bit more of their history, an ancient order, existing since forever, keeper of the Happiness and Peace, though their function was advertised as more ceremonial and spiritual than really effective. Knowledge, acceptance and education were said to be the keys to a happy life on Kaala. A record of 7,569,254 days without breaking of the laws was proudly displayed in bold and big font on the site.

Nicholas decided there was things not quite matching up, and it was worth a look. No society was that peaceful, and no peaceful society had murder conspiracy and fake files and some secret police force who came in to examine troublesome humans from another world.

He put the hood to hide his face and left the spaceship and the spaceport to go to the Office Headquarters. The walk lasted 25 minutes, 25 minutes spent looking over his shoulders - he had removed the hood, as no one else had one, he was getting more noticed wearing one than not wearing one.

The building was quite new, and modern, full of windows and shiny from the reflections of the sun. It somehow destabilized Nick, he was expecting a medieval building, bricks and thin holes to shoot arrows from.

Nick just circled the building, observing exits and windows for a weak point. He found none. There was two exits and none of the windows were low enough to be climbed on and through. He started thinking on being arrested again, but he didn't want to go through the process of having to escape and being looked for more than he already was. Maybe if he just walked in ? It could be worth a try, but it would be handing himself over if it didn't work. There was no uniform apart from the guards' he could borrow and he didn't fancy a fight in a dirty alley.

He sighed, and got out in the open. Maybe... it could work. He wasn't optimistic but he raised his face high, put on his best and most sympathetic look and walked toward the guards. They stopped him with a simple hand and smiled.

"Hello, sir. May we help ?"

"Yes, probably. I have an appointement with someone from the Office."

"Of course. May I know who you are visiting ?"

"I am afraid I am unable to answer this question. I received a letter and no name was precised on it. I was just summoned here."

"Oh..."

The guards looked at each other.

"Is it for the vaccine?"

Nick just pounced on the idea.

"Yes, kind sirs" He grinned wide, the smile distorting his face in ways he was unused too. He had the impression his cheeks were going to be cut open like a glasgow smile under the pressure. Fortunately none of the guards noticed his discomfort.

"This way, then, it's the other entrance. This one is for the Office members."

"Oh of course. Thank you kindly for your help and I wish you a good day."

Nick departed with a last big grin, his face turning stern the second his back was on them. He massaged his cheeks gently to relieve the slight pain, and grimaced at thinking he'd have to do the same masquerade at the other entrance.

The second doors were larger than the first though there was only one guard. Nicholas walked to him, nodded in a polite way, smiled his best smile and told him in a happy voice :

"Hello ! I'm coming for my vaccine, I've been summoned."

"Hello, Sir" The guard smiled back, and pointed toward the inside of the building. "Go inside, on the right. You need to take the green elevator, up to the fifth floor. There'll be a welcome desk, and a person will give you more directions."

"Perfect. So, on the right, green elevator, fifth floor ?" Nick repeated to be sure not to go there.

"Yes." The guard nodded.

"Great ! Thank you very much for your help !"

"Most welcome, Sir."

Nicholas and the guard said their goodbyes and he entered the building.

The hall was vast, open but there was no access to the other hall, the one reserved to the employees. Nick would have to find a way. If the floors didn't connect... Maybe through the lifts ? On the right, there was two kind of lifts : green ones and blue ones. If the green ones were invited to be used by visiting civilians, maybe the blue ones were for... Office members ?

Nick congratulated himself warmly for this littl spark of genius. The man was smart, after all. He smirked smugly and went there. There was some people in the hall, though. Some were in uniforms and the others none, and there was a queue in front of the elevators.

Nicholas walked to the crowd and mingled with them, trying to look for a plan, anything really. There was a description of what was at every floor on a plaque on the wall and on the fifth floor, there was the medecine floor. He frowned, not liking this at all.

The doors to a green elevators dinged and opened and everybody got in. Some people in uniform were watching from the other side of the hall and Nicholas figured that if he didn't get in, it would look suspect. He didn't want to look suspect. He reluctantly entered the elevator, the dozen people around him crammed up against his body and he felt chocked up for a moment. He hated crowds. He hated people. He remembered when Belle had pressed herself against him on Avonlea, she got scared of the sheer amount of people and seeked for courage in his warmth. It was not the same now. Now was just a space too small for the number of persons and it was overwhelming him. He got warm, too warm and the ding of the elevator arriving at the fifth floor couldn't come soon enough, and at that second, Nick didn't think he had heard a more welcome noise.

The people around him vacated the elevator and all went to the welcome desk. He stayed in the elevator and wondered what to do. Going out, staying in ? Go to a different floor ? If there was less people to other floors... He ended up going out and circled his way around the welcome desk, not wanting to be noticed by the receptionist.

Fortunately, the said receptionist was giving out flyers and files to the other people and wasn't paying attention. He probably never had to pay attention before.

Nicholas looked around the room and saw no cameras or any recording device. Good for him. He saw a plan of the floor on the plaque and went there to check it : corridors, examination rooms, bedrooms, more corridors... nothing more than what was expected from a medical wing. Nick shook his head with frustration. A ding warned him of the elevator departure and he swore mentally. He observed the plan again and realised that on the other side of the floor was a staircase. He nodded thoughtfully, and swallowed. He had to cross the snakes' nest. He could do it, after all. When one had to escape an prison made by amazon-like women, one could do almost everything, but he had to admit he never wanted to wear fake breasts made out of mud and straw.

Nick passed by the desk again, spinning around the group, and walked into the corridor leading to the staircase. He walked with a confident step, glancing in the rooms as he passed their doors by. Various people - humans and non humans - were examined. Some were doing exercizes, some were being pricked with small syringes, and some were having blood drawn.

Nicholas finally arrived by the end of the corridor. He was tense, but it was somehow too easy. There was no resistance, and it seemed no one cared about him at all. He wasn't protesting at all, but he just hoped it didn't mean those people weren't reacting because they knew there was a trap on his way.

He opened the door, and slipped inside the staircase. The walls were painted green and it was silent. Everyone of his steps echoed loudly.

He walked down, striding down the stairs. He made sure to hold the railing because each time he took a step down on his right leg, his knee was telling him it wasn't a fan of this. He finally arrived to the ground floor and he looked through the little round window in the door. The hall was mostly emptied but for the same men in uniform, probably there to herd people toward the elevators. Nick shook his head, not wanting to go that way. Maybe he should just walk all the way up to see if he could not cross on the roof.

He turned around with a sigh, not really in the mood to climb all the way up and he saw a cupboard integrated in the wall underneath the staircase. He walked to it, hoping to find anything that could possibly be useful. He opened it and saw a cleaning robot inside. Nicholas sighed in annoyance and swore mentally, before giving the robot an angry kick. It fell backward and hit the wall with a thud.

Nick opened wide eyes, because it was the kind of thud that told people there was an empty space behind the wall. And those people didn't think anger was useful ? He snorted ironically, and his mood lifted. He liked secret empty spaces behind walls in unlikely rooms most of the time. Either they hid treasures or the worst kind of monsters.

Nicholas groped the back wall of the cupboard, trying to find a button or a clinch and found none. Maybe there was none, and he was totally mistaking but it was an empty space behind a panel and it needed to be broken in. He looked at the robot for any help and it was a common model, found all over the Empire planets, nothing he couldn't hack.

He opened the little hatch on the back of the robot and pressed the button to turn it on. The robot bipped and a light lit up on the top of its ball-like head. Nick turned it off and uncovered the wires inside. He examined the circuits and tweaked some until some wires broke and he twisted them back together to make new ones.

He grinned happy to have bypassed the automatic programming and to be able to use the robot manually. He broken the hatch off the robot back to get the screw back and inserted one of the them in new circuit to make it the lever of a controller. He grinned triumphantly and guided the robot out of the cupboard. He then dove into the wheels to tighten their springs to make it go faster.

Finally done with his preparations, he launched the robot straight into the wall, as fast as he could make it run. The robot cleanly passed through the panel and fell to its death into a hole. Nicholas could have cheered in happiness if not for the noise that the fall made and which risked to bring guards back. And this time he had no way of hiding himself or his damages.

He entered the cupboard, closing the doors behind him - no need to leave any obvious trails - and peeked down through the hole. The robot had fallen into a corridor painted in white, with lots of pipes on the walls, obviously the basement.

Nicholas really hoped the basement of the two buildings weren't separated and with a slight prayer for his knees, hopped down. it wasn't very high, maybe ten feet and he knew how to roll to avoid getting hurt but it still hurt his back, knees and ankles like a bitch. He took a few seconds to try to get over the shock of the sudden pain and bit his lips not to moan. He breathed in and out calmly and got up, limping.

Nick massaged his achy limbs and limped down the corridors, in the direction of where the hall of the ground floor would be, were he at that floor. It was very warm there, and the hall had been quite long so the quite long walk didn't bother him, what was is that he could actually see the end of the corridor at the general place of the elevators, and it desolated him. He walked up to the white hall signaling the end of the corridor, and he sighed in disappointement. He had done his best, and it hadn't been enough. Well, he was going to take a five minutes rest for his knee, then he was going to go upstairs and kick the hell out of a guard and get arrested in the hopes to be locked in on the other side of that fucking wall.

He leant against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor. He groaned in annoyance at feeling his hair moving onto his sweaty neck and flipped them back several times. Plus the cooling nape at his nape was making him shiver, and he turned around to glare at a venting grid.

A venting grid. He grinned wide at it and felt like howling his triumph. He turned to get on his knees - ignoring the pain - and clawed at it to try to get it loose. Having no screwdriver didn't really help, and he punched it angrily, the noise echoing loudly around him. It didn't even make a dent. Nick observed and memorized the shape of the screws and jog-limped back to the robots to look for anything that could loosen the screws amongst the scattered remains of the robot. He grabbed a few metal pieces and went back to the other side.

The pieces he had brought were not really fit for the job but it was better than nothing and after a ridiculous amount of time, he managed to get it open.

He crawled inside, feet first, on his belly. It was a short vent pipe, maybe 20 feet long before another grid, but it was not very high and he couldn't walk on all fours in it. Nicholas closed the venting grid as best as he could, putting the screws on the inside to hide the fact he went that way.

Once satisfied, he started to crawl backward, to the other grid. Once his feet touched it, he rolled on his back and inched closer, lifting his legs as if readying himself to exercize his abs. He heard nothing on the other side but an occasional burst of steam and the buzz of electricity in the leads against the ceiling and he detected no move. He gave an experimental first kick with the flat of his left foot and a loud clang echoed all over the basement.

Nick waited to see if there was anyone coming but he could detect no running guard coming, nor alarms ringing, nor shouts... Nothing. As if he wasn't there. Goddamn, their security sucked, he thought.

Nicholas wasn't really good at infiltration. He could be discreete and ressourceful, and he had already escaped from bad places but he was no overtrained commando. This time, he wasn't even being discreete and someone smart could follow his lead as surely as if Nick had left directions. They must be overly confident to lack so much security, or there was no reason for them to need security. In both cases, it worked good for him and he was going to make them regret their negligence. And yet, despite his bravado, a flame of fright and distrust was burning bright inside his chest.

Nick started kicking the grid again and again to get it loose and after several minutes of heavy pounding, the grid was kicked several feet away from the wall. The man was out of breath and he crawled out from the the vent pipe, landing gracelessly on his ass and he sat, his mind alert, a few minutes, catching his breath. Then he got up and tried to hide his way in. However the grid was damaged from all the hits, and its twisted and battered sides didn't fit the wall anymore. He ended up leaving the grid by the entrance of the hole, unable to make it fit in.

Maybe he should just buy himself courses of fighting and discrete moving on a warrior planet, that could be useful. He brainfroze during a few seconds as he wondered why he never had the idea before. He snapped out of these distracting thoughts and looked around him.

This corridor was the reverse twin of the one on the side of the public building but it somehow looked bleaker. Maybe it was because the lighting was dimmer or rarer, but his feeling of uneasiness grew.

He tiptoed his way down, looking for a staircase. He found one behind a door in the middle of the corridor and made his way up.

The staircase was just as silent, with the same windows on the doors to the floors. On the ground floors were a few people walking around, in uniforms and chatting with each other. On the first floor, a very powerful smell of food told him it was kitchen and a look through the window informed him it was also catering. There was lots of people there. If the Office members were eating, that could explain the other floors being almost desert. He hoped suck desertion was the normal way, though, because leaving would be way harder if he had to pay even more attention to more people.

Second floor were offices, as well as third floor. Fourth floor were bedroom with mesh doors and this floor was way smaller than the others.

"Cells" Nicholas whispered under his breath. The doors of the elevator situated directly facing the doors of the staircase open unexpectedly and Nick crouched quickly, hoping he had been quick enough not to be noticed. He waited anxiously a full minute before raising and taking a quick peek before hiding again.

Two men in uniform were standing in front of a cell.

He took quick peeks after quick peeks to watch what was happening and stay discreete.

One man opened the door of the cell.

The other entered the cell.

A haggard looking prisoner was taken out.

They closed the door.

They brought the prisoner to the elevator.

The arrow pointing up above the elevator doors got him running to the fifth floor. When he arrived, Nick saw this floor was medical looking, like its counterpart of the other building, but its size was like the fourth floor. The doors of the lift opened again and he ducked.

He waited a bit before peeking and saw that the prisoner had awakened a little and was weakly struggling. He was brought into one room with window panels allowing someone in the corridor to watch.

Nicholas frowned, wanting to know what was happening in there. Plus he had to start his investigations somewhere. He entered the corridor, closing the door behind him, as carefully as he could, trying to keep it as silent as ever. He tiptoed to the window, crouching underneath it, keeping a low profile.

Nick heard the man's protests getting louder and suddenly silenced before a buzzing sound started. It got higher in tone as it seemed to rub against something. Nicholas straightened his spine, slow inch by slow inch, so that the minimum of him was viewable.

The two men in uniform has strapped the prisoner to a reclinable chair. A bloody electric saw was laid on a little table and one of the man was doing something to man's brain with a laser scalpel. He dropped a little rosy piece in a bowl the second man was holding out for him. Nicholas realised with horror and shock it was a piece of brain.

He felt nausea rising violently in him, and nearly puked then and there. He fell on all fours, trying not to cough out the bile in his mouth, its acid having burnt all its way up his esophagus. He forced himself to look up, swallowing everything back, and witnessed the two men resetting the prisoner's skull with a laser stick, melting the bones back together, as if they were welding metal.

Nick crawled on all fours backward toward the staircase rushingly, almost panicly and he felt his rear hitting something. He jumped up, and turned around, seeing two men smiling gently at him.

"Hello Doctor Von Stiltskin, we were looking for you." The first said.

"Yes we were looking all over the city." The second added and the first finished.

"But you were already where you were supposed to be."

Nick backed off, and he felt one strong arm grab him around the chest and the familiar prick of a syringe in his neck before all went black.


End file.
